


Of Memories, Science, and Postcards

by skyeviktory



Series: Ed Elric / Marvel [3]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Crossover, Female Edward Elric, Friendship, Gen, Genderbend, Genderbending, Rule 63, caution - a lot of swearing from Ed, fem!Edward
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:33:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26036458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyeviktory/pseuds/skyeviktory
Summary: Ed was growing used to the 21st century - for the most part. Tony's sarcasm was manageable; Pepper's concern was appreciated; Happy's... silence was... silent. But...Did she really need to get on another airplane?!A trip?Some flashbacks?And...A near head-on collision with a science project?Could this actually be fun?
Series: Ed Elric / Marvel [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/480868
Comments: 406
Kudos: 549





	1. Malibu to New York

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back everyone!
> 
> Here is story 2.5 in the FMA/MCU crossover world I have been writing. If you haven't read 'I'll Catch a Break Someday' and its sequel 'World With No Shield', I suggest reading those to begin with :)
> 
> Thank you so much to all the readers who have enjoyed the first two stories and I hope you do as well with this mini-story (it "should" be less than 10 chapters but we'll see if I can pull that off!) As I mentioned at the end of the last story, this one will slowly start to alter the timeline of the MCU (and I'm pretty sure a lot of you may guess on what subject ;P)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> P.S. Unless stated otherwise, the story is written in Ed's (1st) POV!

_End of February 2010 – Stark Mansion_

I stretched, walking into the kitchen, breathing deeply as I tried to blink the sleep away from my eyes. I almost regretted staying up so late once again.

_Almost._

What would make me regret it less would be some peanut butter and banana –

I stopped, spotting Tony sitting at the kitchen island, staring intently at a cup of coffee in front of him.

And he didn't seem to have noticed my being there just yet which, in itself, was bizarre considering he wasn't even working on anything. And he NEVER just sat at the island.

That was my spot.

"What's got you looking so moody?" I asked because on top of sitting at my spot, his entire demeanor seemed… quieter.

He barely jumped as he finally looked up at me, blinking once before saying, "You must be delusional. I have not and will never be 'moody'."

Ah, denial. It had been overly clear in his voice but at least his overall attitude changed.

I scoffed and shook my head, more for his sake than mine, as I headed towards the cupboard to get my breakfast.

"Well, you were something if not moody," I said, pulling out some sliced bread.

"Not moody or anything else, Short Stuff," he replied, taking a sip of his coffee. "And have you packed your things yet?"

I hummed distractedly as I began setting my breakfast up. The reminder to pack making my insides churn slightly. I actually hadn't packed but… At the moment, I was more curious about the change of subject from Tony.

I wondered what was bothering him…

The last Iron Man stunt he had pulled had gone well from what I had heard so it must not have been that… He had successfully stopped more of Stark Industries weapons that had been shipped months ago and had saved several villages. Alone considering he never warned me when he was leaving…

So, what –?

"You're not getting out of going to NYC with us, Short Stuff," continued Tony. "You can't use any excuses, especially not with Pepper. She'll guilt trip you enough to get you on that plane." Sadly, he had a point… Something I wouldn't admit out loud. "Maybe you shouldn't have neglected to tell her your birthday was at the beginning of the month."

I groaned, remembering the day she had found out. Even though I had explained to her multiple times that it wasn't a big deal for me, she had insisted on at least getting a cake, ordering my favorite fast food and had even gotten Rhodey and Happy at the mansion.

Even though I had thought I hadn't wanted anything to commemorate my birthday…

I had had difficulty not getting emotional over how much care had been put into the quick affair.

And, because of that night, I didn't think I would have it in me to say 'no' to Pepper about heading to New York with her and Tony. Not when we were going there a day or two before their big meetings to do several activities Pepper had planned out for us.

The only problem with the trip was…

"You don't look too keen on going," remarked Tony.

I glanced behind, raising an eyebrow in his direction. "We are FLYING there," I said, unamused in an attempt to hide the real reason I –

"You need to get used to it, Short Stuff. It's the fastest and safest way to travel."

I just rolled my eyes, taking a bite out of my toast. He could say that all he wanted, show me every different statistical research about the subject, I still wouldn't be comfortable with travelling by airplane.

"Go pack. I know you haven't yet and we'll be leaving soon," said Tony, motioning for me to hurry.

"As if you've already packed," I countered, jumping onto the counter top to continue eating at a leisurely pace.

"It's my plane. It leaves when I want it to," stated Tony. Perfect then I could just miss – "And that includes YOU being ON said plane."

I just groaned, shoving a large piece of toast in my mouth and jumping off the counter, walking away.

"JARVIS, remind Short Stuff every hour to pack until she does," said Tony.

"Yes, Sir."

" _You are especially annoying today_ ," I called out, leaving the kitchen.

Without thinking, I walked back to my room, not sure how I would be able to get out of travelling all the way to New York.

Honestly, I didn't think I was going to be able to.

Tony had been right: Pepper would guilt trip me and I didn't want to disappoint her again.

Ignoring the tightening in my chest, I sighed, kneeling on the ground and reaching under my bed. I found the suitcase Pepper had gotten me in December for when we had gone to see Peggy and Daniel Sousa in Washington D.C. that same month and tugged it closer.

I didn't think I was going to use it again so soon.

Pulling it out from under the bed, the suitcase moved aside several loose papers at the same time, several that had been UNDER the bed as well, even –

That's where that one went!

I picked up one paper in particular and added it to the pile on my new desk. I had finally decided on one a week or two after the Stane incident and it had been very useful ever since.

If I remembered correctly, it had been less than a day before the entire surface had been covered in papers.

Since then, it hadn't gotten any better. All that had changed in the last few months had been the laptop that was currently partially covered by one of my notebooks.

The laptop had been the eventual replacement for the tablet I had broken during the break-in – which, in itself, had been an interesting story to tell Tony and Pepper. The laptop, at least, had been just as useful with the added bonus that its keyboard wasn't 'touchscreen' like the tablet's had been. My automail would not have let me type if I still had the tablet…

I picked up the suitcase, tossing it onto my bed and heading towards my dresser to pick out some clothes for the trip. We would be gone for at least 5 days, so I should grab some of these –

"If I may, the weather is currently colder in New York city than Malibu, Miss," stated JARVIS.

I paused, looking up as I stopped pulling out a set of t-shirts. "Just how much colder?" I asked.

"There is currently snow on the ground."

I sighed, almost annoyed by the situation but… I could at least wear gloves without getting weird looks. It may be a good test for my automail too, to see if the new composition would hold up well in the cold. I couldn't test it in Washington, not with Peggy and Sousa making sure all of us had been warm enough on a constant basis.

"Thanks, JARVIS," I said, as I put one of the t-shirts back and reached for my long-sleeved shirts instead, closing the drawer with a hit from my hip.

"My pleasure, Miss."

I smiled, shaking my head. Even though, at first, JARVIS had been calling me 'Ed', over time, he had switched to 'Miss'. Tony may have had something to do with it but I didn't particularly care.

JARVIS never called me something related to my height so I was fine with him calling me 'Miss'.

I continued to pack some clothes before heading to the bathroom and gathering my stuff there: toothbrush, toothpaste and –

I paused, staring at my reflection in the mirror.

A brush too would be a good idea.

My hair had grown passed my ears now, aided by the fact that I hadn't cut it since arriving several months ago. Even though Pepper had tried to help me with finding some hair styles that could work for this length, I usually either had a headband or a hat – a beanie from what I learned it was called – to attempt to tame my hair until I could tie it up again.

I truly did miss that.

Picking up several more items, I made my way back to my room, dumping everything into the suitcase.

Maybe I should arrange it better…

I spent several minutes to do so but, as I did, my mind wandered to why I didn't particularly want to do to New York. Not just the place but considering…

Not with…

I shook my head, trying to push those thoughts away.

I needed to keep them at bay during the trip. Pepper had put effort into it and I didn't want to ruin it for her. I needed to be happy for her sake.

I didn't want her to worry about me.

One thing at a time… My first issue stemmed from the fact that we had to FLY there… Of course, I knew taking a car or even a train would take much too long but still…

The U.S.A. was MUCH bigger than Amestris!

Flying it was…

Maybe – just maybe! – I could get some sleep during the flight. I nearly scoffed at the idea: it was very rare that I actually slept on an airplane unless I was exhausted.

And even with limited sleep, I wasn't THAT tired…

Instead, maybe I could get some research done. For that, I grabbed my laptop and its plug, stuffing them into a backpack: I had learned to not make the same mistake as the first flight and not put everything that could distract me in the one bag that would be stowed too far away from me. Notebooks too went in the backpack. Pens were important too.

Maybe the research would actually distract me because, honestly, I had hit another roadblock with the energy needed to power the transmutation circle – not that I had finalized a design for said circle either…

But… I couldn't figure out yet what I could exchange to cross through the Gate in one piece.

What would be the price?

Well… that entailed me getting my alchemy back at some point as well…

That was another problem to solve, one that I wasn't even close to doing…

Maybe…?

The offer from that Nick Fury came to mind once again. The night he had broken into the mansion, he had talked to Tony and myself about this so-called 'Avenger Initiative'. He had wanted to gather a group of people together to make a – somehow – powerful group that would be called upon to protect… the Earth?

Tony, being Tony, had refused there and then, not bothering with asking any more questions or clarifications.

I…

Truthfully, seeing Fury brought up memories of –

Not Master Sergeant Kain Fuery that was for sure but…

Furher King Bradley.

Thankfully, the major difference was that I hadn't been getting a strange and… scary vibe from Fury like I had gotten from the old Furher.

Nick Fury would get the benefit of the doubt for the moment but he wasn't getting my full trust just yet.

Hence why I never actually gave him an answer about the 'Avenger Initiative'.

If S.H.I.E.L.D. could go and create a full identity for me within 12 hours, what other resources could they have access to? Sadly, this whole thought process felt like being recruited as a State Alchemist all over again.

But… I didn't have my brother by my side this time. I didn't have Mustang and his crew to watch my back.

I would be alone.

And, not knowing much about this world nor this time, I didn't think I was ready just yet to maneuver my way through S.H.I.E.L.D. without being taken advantage of.

Not to mention doing my research on alchemy and crossing the Gate without tipping them off to it.

Maybe one day, I would humour their offer.

See what they would offer in exchange.

For now, I had a place to stay with Tony and…

I sighed. A trip to New York City.

I finished packing with so many thoughts swirling in my mind and, next thing I knew, I was closing the suitcase, zipping it shut. I tossed my backpack over my shoulder and rolled the suitcase out of the room.

Maybe this trip would do me some good and would be the distraction I needed.

Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought! :D


	2. The Big Apple Won't Keep the Emotions At Bay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you SO MUCH for the amount of attention this story had gotten for just the 1st chapter!! It was AMAZING and SO HEARTWARMING to see! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! 
> 
> <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> (With the little hint in it!)

_End of February, 2010_

"So much for 'my plane won't leave without me' bullshit," I mumbled as I followed Pepper through a crowd, trying to keep her in sight and not get elbowed by passersby or smacked by backpacks.

Even over the swarm of people, Pepper sadly seemed to have heard me it seemed as she glanced behind her and sent me a look. "There are children around, Ed. Please watch your language in here."

" _They've heard worse…,_ " I mumbled in German and she sighed, reaching behind her and grasping my hand.

"I don't know German," she reminded me again as she slowed down to let me walk alongside next to her.

"Sorry," I sighed out of habit to her, stuffing my other hand into my coat pocket.

My new RED coat.

From what Pepper had said about what she had witnessed during that shopping trip together, she had never seen me that ecstatic as the moment I had seen that specific coat.

Well, to be fair, it was a damn nice coat.

And I got to wear it pretty much all week with this weather!

I let Pepper pull me through the crowd and into a large building, one that I didn't actually know the use for: I hadn't exactly been paying attention while we had been outside for any signs and…

Honestly, I was just letting Pepper drag me around New York for the moment.

It was easier for me.

Though, maybe I should have put a little more effort into listening what Pepper had called it when we had left the hotel.

Well, maybe… uh, maybe…

I slowed to a stop, staring at… staring at…

" _What the hell is that?_ " I gasped, staring at a HUGE set of bones of… SOMETHING.

Please don't tell me this thing was roaming around somewhere on this planet! Not with those sharp teeth and the fact that it was a good FOUR meters tall! Everything about it screamed vicious predator!

"I'm guessing what you just said was but this is a replica of a tyrannosaurus skeleton," explained Pepper and my eyes snapped towards her.

She was smiling at me, her gaze going from the skeleton back to me. "In other words, fossils. People keep finding fossils of dinosaurs like this all over the world," she continued.

"Fossils?" I repeated slowly, tilting my head to look up at this so-called dinosaur.

"Ah, got it," stated Pepper in understanding. "Fossil Hall will be the first stop on our visit. We should find a good explanation there along with all the other fossils."

I absently nodded, still staring at the monstrous creature in front of me, stunned by its sheer SIZE. At how something like that could actually exist.

Wait…

"It doesn't exist anymore, does it?" I asked slowly, wondering if the reason there was only a skeleton remaining meant they were gone. It also crossed my mind on if I could even outrun it. Those feet looked like they took enormous steps.

Made up for its tiny arms at least.

Pepper, meanwhile, looked like she was trying to stop herself from laughing. "Don't worry, these guys have been extinct for thousands of years. What we could do tonight is see if we can watch 'Jurassic Park' if you're that interested in dinosaurs," she offered, leading me away from the tyrannosaurus skeleton.

"What's that?" I asked, taking a last look at the tyrannosaurus.

"A movie, all fictional, on what could happen if they brought dinosaurs back to life and tried to make an amusement park out of it."

"That sounds like a horrible idea," I mumbled, shaking my head, not even sure how this place, without alchemy, could bring something back to life..

Pepper just hummed, leading me through the crowds until…

Holy…

SO MANY SKELETONS!

Pepper could almost not keep up with me as I jogged from one display to the next, reading every explanation I came across, every note, every diagram, soaking up all this new information to understand all the history that had happened centuries and even millennia ago.

And that the knowledge had been preserved, found and SHARED so freely with the population.

It was incredible!

So far, out of all these dinosaurs, my favorite had to be the stegosaurus, the one that could attack its enemies with a swing of its SPIKED tail.

A skeletally SPIKED TAIL! A natural defense mechanism!

And these existed!

So badass.

Would – would there have been dinosaurs or any type of creature like them in Amestris? Archeology wasn't as important – or even existent – from what I knew of. Maybe one day, it would be or maybe…

I glanced to the side and spotted Pepper lowering her cell phone that had been pointed in my direction. What…?

Cocking my head to the side, I asked, "Did you want to show me something?" Was something wrong with her cell phone? Was –?

"Oh no, I was just taking a picture of how happy you looked," she explained, turning the cell phone around and showing me…

A picture of me.

I had honestly forgotten cell phones could take pictures that you didn't need a large camera to do so anymore – not that the cameras these days were all that big anyway. Technology truly had evolved by leaps and bounds in 60 years.

"You like learning, don't you?" remarked Pepper, as she turned the cell phone back to face her and she studied the picture. "You look cute in this."

My face flushed at that last comment and I turned away, trying to hide it.

Pepper, thankfully, took pity on me as she said with a smile, "There's another section I think you'd like."

We stayed in the building – at the Museum of Natural History as I finally learned what it was called – until it was closing and, according to the map, we still hadn't seen a section or two.

It was THAT big.

Or… Maybe I had taken a long time at each of the exhibits we had visited…

I wasn't exactly my fault everything was so interesting!

Even though the ocean life area with the HUGE whale – that I learned STILL EXISTED out in the wild – had been interesting and the space one taught me SO MUCH about what lay beyond this planet, my favorite was still the one with all of those dinosaurs and fossils.

While they no longer existed – I double-checked with Pepper to make sure – the sheer size of most of them and all the claws, teeth and every other defense they organically had was so incredible!

Even in my wildest dreams, I couldn't have come up with how badass they used to be!

I had a thought, as we were following the flow of the crowd out of the building, if Tony would have enjoyed the visit or would he have known about all of these things beforehand.

I had learned quite fast that Tony not only had extensive knowledge on robotics but a good basic knowledge on nearly everything else.

He most definitely would not have learned as much as I had today, considering how much he already knew!

Only problem was he had gotten information from Rhodey about two hours before we were supposed to leave of the location of some Stark Industries weapons and, barely having given Pepper a heads-up, he had flown off.

Apparently, he was supposed to join us in New York the latest on the first day of the meetings.

In the meantime, Pepper and I had JARVIS send us updates on the progress of Tony's mission and on his health.

Thankfully, Tony still didn't know about our request to JARVIS or else he would have stopped it by now.

So far, Tony seemed to be handling it well enough.

Even though, at first, I had wanted to join him, I had learned that I could do more at the mansion with helping with all the upgrades he wanted to do and providing backup through communication and video feeds when he went off to destroy his weapons.

It wasn't my ideal scenario but at least I was doing something!

"Alright, what do you say about pizza and a movie at the hotel?" asked Pepper as we stepped out into the cold, dark evening of New York City.

Ok, I take that back, New York was never _dark_. Central Park in front of us may have been dim but on either ends of the street, there were SO MANY LIGHTS.

But, back to her question… "Yes, both sound good to me."

Pepper smiled at me and led the way down the sidewalk and through the streets of Now York. I just followed her closely, taking in, once again, just how much things had changed.

I barely recognized some places from when…

When…

I felt my insides churn once again and the happiness I had felt in that museum began to drain away. Bit by bit, it left, replace with… with…

I squeezed my hands into tight fists as I willed myself to NOT think about that. I had promised myself to keep a positive attitude for this trip while Pepper and Tony were around, to not show any signs of not enjoying myself.

Getting lost in old memories was NOT the way to go…

If I was going to drown in old memories, I needed to wait until I was alone, in my room, knowing we weren't going out anymore for that day.

Not before then!

Alright, focus. Pizza was first and then Pepper had mentioned a movie about dinosaurs.

Pizza and dinosaurs.

Those should be good enough distractions.

I hoped.

Taking a deep breath, I started looking around us, at the store-fronts and taking in the clothing displays. I huffed, stuffing my hands into my pockets, thinking that nothing – and I truly meant NOTHING – looked appealing to me in that display or even the one after it. The amount of people filing in and out of those stores told me that many others actually did like the items.

Well, it wasn't like I needed more clothes: I was very happy with the ones I had. Especially the new red coat! I didn't –

I skidded to a stop and several people nearly ran into me, one even cursing as they went around.

But…

"What did you see?" asked Pepper, trying to follow my gaze. "Is there…? Oh!"

"Can we…?" I asked slowly, knowing that, not only was it not her style, but Pepper was the one with the money to buy what we needed for this trip.

She stared at the store across the street from us a second more before nodding. "Of course! Let's see what they have!"

I smiled up at her and we crossed the street, entering the store.

Once inside… Wow… I had never seen one like this one! Contrary to previous clothing stores where I had seen mostly plain and neutral clothing, in style as much as in colour, this one…

I had a thought that some of these clothes with the studs and spikes reminded me of the illustrations of dinosaurs we had just seen at the museum.

Oh, and did I mention all the leather?!

I weaved my way through the rows of clothes, staring at everything but trying to pinpoint what exactly I wanted. I had learned my lesson the first time I had gone shopping with Pepper when I had picked up multiple items and liked nearly all of them to varying degrees.

I didn't even have time to make a decision before Pepper had purchased every single item for me.

I had been more careful from then on: find what I really liked and try sets at a time.

And, maybe that would be the first contender: a red, plaid dress, one that was cinched at the waist before flaring… out…

Damn… It didn't have any sleeves.

I could wear it around the house but I wasn't comfortable enough yet to show my automail to the public. Even if I was 60 years in the future, my automail was still more advanced than what people were used to.

I didn't exactly want to draw that type of attention, not if people could make the connection between me and the 'Howling Commandos Edward Elric'.

"Can I help you with anything?"

An employee of the store had popped up next to me, smiling in my direction. I blinked, taking in all the piercings not only on her ears but on her face as well, the jet-black hair that spiked in almost every direction along with the overall dark clothes that were accented by pops of fluorescent colors.

I felt my face flush as I stopped staring at how damn cool she looked.

She, meanwhile, glanced between myself and the red dress, asking, "Want to try that out?"

"Uh…" Come on, get it together! "I'd rather get something with sleeves," I explained, turning my attention to the dress. "Does it come in a version with some?"

The employee shook her head but she still had a smile on her face. "Don't worry, many clients want sleeves too. I've seen many who paired this," she reached up, searching through the many dresses and pulling one out in particular, "I'm guessing a small, right?"

It took everything to not snap at her because I knew she was referring to the size for the dress and not referencing my height. But still…

I nodded half-heartedly as I followed her through the store.

"Paired it with this shirt underneath," she said, pulling out a black, long-sleeved shirt from a rack. "Versatile enough that you can use it with another outfit by itself and it's sleeves are longer than usual!"

Uh… I stared at the pieces in her hands, eyes wide. I hadn't though it would have been that simple! "Thanks – Thank you."

"Don't mention it," she replied. "I'll put this in a room for you. If you need any more help, let me know!"

I just nodded watching her walk away.

"She seemed nice," remarked Pepper and I jumped, not having noticed that she had stepped next to me.

I just felt my face flush again, trying to hide it from her.

"Want to get her number?"

"Pepper!"

* * *

_Next day_

Honestly, I didn't think I was doing the best job at staying positive today no matter how much I tried to keep any negative thoughts at bay…

It had started off well this morning. Pepper and I had had breakfast and I had gotten an update from JARVIS that Tony was heading back to Malibu and that the weapons had been destroyed. He was still insisting though that he would join us tomorrow for the meetings.

I wasn't all that surprised to be honest.

In the meantime, for today, Pepper had planned for The Metropolitan Museum of Art as out first stop.

However,…

Contrary to the previous museum with displays on scientific discoveries… Well…

The more I thought about it being a museum of ART – amongst other things though the ART part struck a chord – the more it reminded me of a conversation I had had technically over 60 years ago…

The subject of art wasn't all that important to me considering that the whole idea of art wasn't all that important in Amestris. It was more of a hobby and we hadn't dedicated entire BUILDINGS to it and its history.

Not that Amestris had a very long history of anything but…

Art…

It was also a favorite subject of Steve's…

He had talked about it multiple times and I had even caught him drawing during our travels.

And… Seeing some of the paintings in the museum… I could understand why art was important to him, why it was important to a lot of people.

I had to admit, while some 'works of art' were questionable at the very least, some others…

Pepper had to snap me out of my staring of one painting called 'Trees and House Near the Jas de Bouffan'.

Whatever that last part meant…

But... What got to me was… was how the house amidst the row of trees looked like our old family home in Resembool.

The one we burnt down.

This visit to the museum just kept digging up memories that continuously soured my mood no matter how hard I tried to keep a positive mentality… I went searching for any works of art or even artifacts that could help with maintaining those positive thoughts.

The rest of the museum visit went fine enough and, after a while, we left and got into that black car that had been driving us around since yesterday. Arriving… somewhere, that was when I – I nearly broke. Pepper had stopped next to the water's edge and told me that, across from us, would be our next stop.

The Statue of Liberty.

Why did it have to be THAT statue…?

"So, we could take the ferry to –"

"Could we not?" I managed to choke out. I was unable to tear my eyes off of the statue in the distance. The day Steve and I had been on that island, on – on his BIRTHDAY, those memories played vividly in my mind, awakening feelings I didn't need at the moment. "I… I've seen it, up – up close."

I didn't even need to turn towards Pepper to know she was staring at me intently: I could sense it but I didn't want to face her. She may also have wanted to say something but… I wasn't sure I was up to hearing anything at the moment.

I just felt nausea creep up within me and it took all my mental strength to keep it together.

"Alright," began Pepper slowly before continuing in a more chipper tone, "you must have figured out what I had in mind for after this and you wanted to spend more time there."

She pulled out her cell phone as she began walking, calling… someone…

I didn't say anything as I followed her to the corner where the black car was waiting.

I scurried into the back seat before pressing myself against the other side's door, trying to control my breathing.

The ride passed by in a blur as I tried to squash all those memories away, to try and gather whatever slivers of happiness I had managed to get this morning.

I didn't want Pepper to worry about me…

Especially not on this trip…

I was doing a horrible job at it though…

"Shopping may help," said Pepper with a smile as the car slowed down.

I absentmindedly nodded, mentally preparing myself to try on clothes and… and…

What. The. Fuck?!

This was NOT a clothing store!

I stumbled out of the car as I stared at the large red sign and then at the rows upon rows upon ROWS of BOOKS I could see through the windows.

Was – was this where we'd be shopping?!

Please let this be where we would be shopping!

"Welcome to The Strand," said Pepper stopping next to me. "New, used and rare books in abundance. Take as long as you need, we just need to be near Times Square before 6pm if you want to eat before the show tonight, deal?"

I whirled towards her; my eyes wide. I – I could spend HOURS in there?!

"Really?!" I gasped, staring at the store front once again.

"Really," repeated Pepper with a chuckle. "And If you want to buy some books, let me know." My eyes widened even more. "Within reason of course. Send me a text from time to time, will you?"

I nodded before bolting into the store and…

Woah…

SO MANY BOOKS!

Where to start? Which row? Where –?

Fuck it, old and rare books first!

Maybe, just maybe, I would find some useful information!

* * *

I was huddled in a corner, pouring over a book about nuclear fusion as several other books were stacked next to me and some more on my lap.

Pepper probably wouldn't let me buy ALL of these so I needed to narrow them down by figuring out which ones would actually be useful to me.

Shockingly, they even had old books on the alchemy of this world of all things but…

They were very basic and focused more on the chemistry part or even on making gold out of lead. That seemed to be, for some weird reason, the main goal of alchemy in this world.

They didn't seem too keen on many of the OTHER uses of alchemy… I –

I knew that sound.

I stopped skimming through the book in front of me and fished out my phone from my pocket, having heard a sound I was now familiar with as being a received text message.

**_Pepper_ **

1 more hour before we head for dinner!

**_Ed_ **

Ok

Alright, one hour. I should be able to narrow down some books in that amount of time.

If not, I could always come back while Pepper and Tony were in their meetings the next… next couple…

I blinked. The young teenager at the end of the row blinked back.

Why…? Why was he staring?

I could somewhat see another young teenager boy with glasses behind the first one, scanning the shelves quickly as he mumbled to himself, ignoring the light taps the first one was doing on his arm.

He still hadn't stopped staring.

He even waved hesitantly in my direction.

Well, I sure as hell didn't know him but… I slowly waved back, my face contorting in confusion. His face grew slightly red as his eyes widened even more.

"Not here," sighed the second teenager, suddenly grasping at the first one. "Come on, Ned, we have to finish our project for the science fair!"

"But –"

The second teenager wasn't listening, pulling this Ned away and turning the corner. Ned glanced back at me, chuckled hesitantly and waved again before he disappeared.

Well, that was… bizarre.

I stared at the edge of the bookcase for several more seconds before going back to my books.

I had decisions to make.

* * *

_Pepper's POV_

If Pepper was being completely honest with herself, she hadn't the faintest idea if this trip was a success or a failure…

She was almost glad Tony couldn't make it, not with the mood swings she had witnessed from Ed, the ones the teenager – young adult actually – had tried to hide.

And failed in doing so.

For some reason, this trip was making Ed very happy and very gloomy at the same time. There had been almost no middle ground…

Pepper hadn't lied when she had said that, at the Museum of Natural History, it was probably one of the happiest she had ever seen Ed being.

And that had included Ed eating her favorite meals.

The closest moment would have had been buying that red coat she continuously wore.

However, the faraway look at The MET along with the look of almost despair at seeing the Statue of Liberty… Pepper honestly wasn't sure the young adult would come out of this trip thanking her or hating her…

Hence the bookstore idea.

Pepper hadn't actually planned to spend the entire afternoon at The Strand but seeing Ed's glum face brighten at the sight of books let Pepper know she had made the right decision and had left Ed to her own devices.

Checking in on her every hour or so since Ed couldn't remember to text Pepper herself.

Pepper couldn't even muster any annoyance when Ed had returned to the front of the store when it had been time to leave with several books stacked in her arms and wearing the most sheepish grin Pepper had seen.

She just purchased all the books, no questions asked.

Ed was in a better mood, that was all that counted.

Once they left the books in the town car and it had dropped the two women off at Times Square… Pepper caught sight of Ed just staring in awe at everything around them.

"It's impressive, isn't it?" asked Pepper, standing next to Ed and taking in the sights as well. "You could probably look around for hours and still find something new!"

Ed nodded distractedly, her eyes flickering every which way around the busy interaction. However,…

Pepper couldn't exactly pinpoint if the awe on Ed's face was happy or not.

Another thing to add to the list to try and figure out if this trip was a success or a flop.

"Hungry, Ed? We still have time to grab something before we head to the theater," said Pepper, pulling Ed's attention away from the bright lights and… Pepper could tell that that gaze didn't look all that happy. "If you want to still go, that is."

Ed blinked in surprise before taking a deep breath and nodding. "Yes, let's still go. I've never been to a theater before."

Even though the young adult SEEMED to be in a better mood as the two of them walked down the sidewalk, Pepper had a feeling that the Broadway show wouldn't be the first time she saw someone act today…

At least they had the balcony seats all to themselves.

Ed had seemed overly fascinated by the large room, staring at everything and anything and asking Pepper multiple questions, one after the other.

Including what the show was about.

Pepper did her best to explain the outline of the 'Phantom of the Opera' to Ed in the few minutes they had before the show started, trying not to give too much away either.

She just hoped Ed enjoyed the show and could follow it.

It seemed to have been going well for the most part as Ed leaned against the railing of the balcony, being overly attentive to the story, staring wide-eyed as the chandelier rose from the stage and hung over the audience and then following the intricate dances of the ballet girls with rapped attention.

Pepper may have jinxed the concept of Ed actually enjoying the show by thinking it too early…

She didn't notice a change from Ed at first, only a shift from the young adult as she leaned heavily on her left hand, blocking her face from Pepper's view.

It was when Ed's shoulders started shaking that Pepper felt something was wrong. She leaned in closer to the young adult slowly, trying to be discreet to find out why… why…

Pepper felt her chest tighten significantly.

Ed was _crying_.

Even though the young adult was trying to be as quiet as possible, the ragged breathing mixed with the quick intakes of breath and even a sniffle told Pepper all she needed to know.

The question was… Why?

They were still at the beginning of the show, nothing tragic had yet to happen.

Had – had something transpired during the day? Had something they had done upset Ed that much? And, if it did, why wait until now?

What triggered it?

Pepper chewed on her bottom lip as she leaned back and began rummaging through her bag, pulling out a handful of tissues. Ed probably would be embarrassed about it but…

Pepper couldn't just sit back and do nothing.

And… It was the first time that – that Pepper had heard Ed _cry_.

Remembering all the times she had seen the young adult, seen the bursts of emotions in wide ranges and styles, Pepper could not pinpoint one moment where she had witnessed Ed shed a tear.

Not once in months…

And tonight, while watching 'The Phantom of the Opera' of all shows…

Pepper had never felt so confused.

As gently as she could, Pepper moved the tissues in front of Ed, just close enough to be in her line of sight. The young adult seemed to stare at them for a moment her shoulders shaking some more before taking the tissues with her right hand, stubbornly keeping her face hidden with her left.

Pepper sighed softly as she leaned back, not understanding what had happened… She may not even get to know what had happened with how Ed kept things to herself…

The two women sat in silence as the lyrics of the current song washed over both of them.

_Recall those days_

_Look back on all those times_

_Think of the things we'll never do_

_There will never be a day_

_When I won't think of you_

Pepper could have sworn Ed's crying had gotten worse…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought! :D
> 
> For those curious, the song at the end is "Think of Me" from the Phantom of the Opera. Having heard it a while ago while writing this story, I thought, OMG, perfect angst song for Ed! (slightly cruel but still, listen to it and you'll see why!) Next chapter will explain more Ed's reaction to the song for those who aren't sure of the reasoning!
> 
> P.S. I'll respond to the comments tomorrow, it's pretty late tonight and I wanted to at least get the chapter posted! I haven't forgotten about you, don't worry! :D


	3. Run In With Science

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who had left kudos/comments and bookmarked/subscribed on this story! It means so much to see that the work I put into this is appreciated!!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Previously: Ed and Pepper had visited several touristic spots around NYC while Tony went on a mission with his Iron Man suit. During the visits, Ed kept getting flashbacks and Pepper was beyond confused as she tried to understand whether Ed was having fun or not.

_Early March 2010_

I hadn't slept well last night… The amount of emotions and thoughts that continuously bubbled within me, clashing and fighting for dominance had me tossing and turning until exhaustion took over and let me get a few hours of unconsciousness.

However, I still had that lingering sense of embarrassment, mixed in with the old taste of regret and guilt.

That mixture didn't exactly let me enjoy any of the breakfast food this morning at the hotel's restaurant…I had thought things would get better but, they seemed to have the reverse effect and every day I spent in New York City was more draining than the last.

Thankfully, I hadn't crossed paths with Pepper or Tony that morning so I didn't have to avoid answering any more concerned questions like I had done with Pepper after that Broadway show.

I truly had tried to pay attention to the story, to follow along, to understand the plot but…

I couldn't get that stupid song out of my head.

Or more, the words of said song.

They had stung badly and brought up, not only memories of Bucky specifically, but of everyone else I had lost as well… It almost felt like those words came FROM them.

I had tried all trip to not think about any of them, to not remember what date it was and how close were to – to…

I shook my head, already feeling the guilt and sadness bubble up.

There PROBABLY in lay the problem: I was trying to NOT think of them, to think of Al, Winry, Steve, Bucky, the Howling Commandos, Mustang and his crew.

I had been trying to but that song urged me to do the reverse, to think of them, to…

Even though I truly didn't want to forget about them, it was do damn painful to remember…

Especially…

We were near to… to…

I sighed heavily. This was going to be a long day…

I glanced to the side and spotted my reflection in a store window. I had thought, whilst getting ready this morning, that wearing my new clothing would make me feel better.

Well, it had somewhat worked but the emotions still lingered.

At least I looked cool while feeling like shit…

I was wearing the red plaid dress I had gotten the other night along with the black shirt underneath, as well as black leggings, boots and leather jacket. Everything was new and, together, looked really good.

If only I could tell my face that…

I readjusted my red beanie hat, took a deep breath and continued on my way down the sidewalk, realizing I may actually need a plan for the rest of the day.

I couldn't keep wandering around aimlessly and not pay attention to my surroundings.

A possibility would be going back to the Museum of Natural History to finish seeing the areas I had missed. Maybe even stay in the dinosaur hall some more seeing them had made me happy the other day, it could maybe do the same again.

I just needed to remember WHERE that museum was located.

And… Where was I?

Thankfully, this city worked on a grid system or I would be completely lost.

Well… More lost than I currently was.

I truly had not been paying attention…

Shit…

I stopped and turned around upon myself, glancing at either end of the city block, trying to determine which corner was closer because I couldn't…

Squinting, I could maybe make out the sign from here… It looked like 65th. And I remembered the Museum being in front of Central Park. So maybe –

I jumped upon hearing the chime from my cell phone. Why have I still not gotten used to it? As I took it out of my pocket, I reminded myself that a reason may be because I received very few texts messages to actually get used to hearing said chime.

_**Old Man** _

_So, coming to the party tonight?_

If Tony thought this was funny, it wasn't.

_**Ed** _

_Most likely no._

I rolled my eyes, having been tempted for about two seconds to even consider his offer but, if I did go to that party, I may not be able to leave whenever I wanted. At least now, I was free to wander as much as I saw fit.

And distract myself at the same time.

Which was trying to get to the museum which would be –

"Watch out!"

Too late!

I stumbled to the side, slipping on the ice and crashing onto the ground.

"I'm sorry, SO sorry!" gasped someone across from me.

"Peter –"

"Are you okay? I'm sorry! We were in a rush!"

"Peter, you –"

"You're not hurt, are you?"

I blinked. Wow… That had been a lot of words in a very short amount of time… But –

Oh!

The young teenager who was still rambling as he picked himself and several items off the ground had been the one at the bookstore, the one too engrossed in his research to listen to his friend. And said friend who had been trying to get his attention was standing not too far away, eyes wide.

Funny enough, he was still trying to get his attention and still failing.

Ned, I believe his name was.

"Miss? Are you okay?" asked the one with the glasses, stepping next to me and holding out his hand.

Ned, meanwhile, stared between the two of us, his mouth open as he tried to formulate some semblance of a sentence other than just calling out to his friend. Well, I think he was. 'Peter' did sound like a name.

"Yeah, I'm good" I replied with a sigh, taking his hand and he struggled pulling me up.

I took pity on him and did most of the work myself.

"Hi again," I added, glancing towards Ned once I was finally steady on my feet.

He looked more shocked, if that was even possible actually. "H – Hi," he stuttered out.

"You know each other?" asked Peter, turning towards his friend in surprise.

"I told you about her at the bookstore," whispered Ned a little too loudly to be effective.

"Oh…" The other teenager turned back to me, his eyes widening as well. "Oh!"

The three of us stood in silence for several heartbeats, them staring at me and me staring back. Until Peter seemed to snap out of it and blushed badly, fidgeting a lot.

"Sorry! Sorry! We should introduce ourselves! I'm Peter Parker and this is –"

"I'm Ned. Ned Leeds," said the other teenager quickly and overly cheerfully. "You know you look a lot like Edward Elric!"

Surprisingly and thankfully, people didn't seem to recognize me on a regular basis so I didn't need to be in disguise most of the time. Ned and Peter though, seemed to have been able to put the pieces together.

And now I understood why he had been staring at me the other day.

"I get that a lot," I lied, shrugging my shoulders before using the story S.H.I.E.L.D. had come up with a few months ago. "He was my great-uncle. I'm Evelyn Elric, but you can call me Ed."

"No way!" cried the boys in unison excitedly before I even finished speaking.

"So cool!"

"Best day ever!"

Their happiness was contagious and I felt a smile spread across my face. But… "I actually didn't do anything," I reminded them, not wanting them to even get the inkling of the idea that Edward and I were one and the same.

Even though 'not doing anything' was a complete lie whether it was in this century or the previous one. These young teenagers though, didn't need to know that.

They continued gushing, talking excitedly between themselves. I shook my head in amusement, my eyes falling onto what they had been carrying and catching sight of chemical formulas on some papers.

"What are you doing?" I interrupted, leaning closer as I motioned towards their papers.

They stopped talking at the same time and glanced down at what they were carrying, almost as if they had forgotten they had them.

"It's our science project," said Peter eagerly. "To determine if different light sources could affect photochemical reactions."

"And we're going to present it at the science fair!" added Ned with as much enthusiasm. "That's where we were heading." He then seemed to grow even more enthusiastic as he said very quickly, "You could join us! We're allowed guests!"

Uh…

"If you're not busy, of course," countered Peter even though he seemed to want me to join as well.

Well…

"No, I'm not busy, actually," I replied, surprising myself. "I can come with you if you explain your project, that is."

Their faces were aglow with glee. "Of course, Miss Elric, it'll be good practice!" said Peter with a bright smile.

"Just Ed," I uttered, not used to hearing 'Miss Elric'. JARVIS calling me 'Miss' was as far as I was willing to go. Definitely not from people younger than me.

"Is it in reference to Edward?" asked Ned enthusiastically.

"Sort of," I replied, scratching the back of my neck. "It's a nickname I prefer."

"Ed it is then," agreed Ned as Peter nodded besides him. "Too bad my parents use 'Ned’ as a nickname…" I cocked my head to the side in confusion. "My full name's Edward Leeds."

Oh! "Popular name," I replied which made him smile even more.

* * *

I stepped back, eyeing the display I had helped Ned and Peter set up once we had arrived at the science fair. I had to admit, it was an impressive set up for a school project.

During the walk to the convention center not only did I almost hound the boys with questions about their project but, they had done the same for information on 'my great-uncle Edward' and the Howling Commandos. I had done the best to answer the questions without being too vague but also not giving away too much information. I didn't want them to connect any dots together.

They, thankfully, were beyond happy with whatever I could tell them.

Meanwhile, I had found out that this science fair was, not only a place to present their project for school but also to award scholarships to attend Midtown School of Science and Technology.

Oh, and I also found out that Ned and Peter were just 13 years old!

I had to restrain myself from crying out at how unfair it all was considering both were barely shorter than me!

We had SEVEN FUCKING YEARS difference in age!

"Any other questions you can shoot at us?" asked Ned, glancing at me from his side of the table. "The others were a lot of help!"

"Yeah! We're totally more prepared now!" added Peter with a bright smile as he stood next to his friend.

Apparently, the questions I had asked during the walk to the convention center were as much informative for me as it was a review for them. There had been some that had seemed to have stumped the boys but they found the answers eventually. They had even asked for more of those types of questions because they were sure the judges would ask similar ones to determine the winners of the scholarships.

And the boys really want said scholarships.

As for their project, I thought over all the information they had given me and… I shook my head. "No, I think both of you are ready!"

They smiled proudly, going back to finishing up their set up and I glanced around at what the other young students had done for this science fair. All of the projects were impressive. Well, to me, considering how behind I was in learning everything that was new in…

A duo of adults was eyeing me with akin to… caution? Weariness?

I frowned at them and they quickly looked away, walking in the opposite direction and murmuring to each other.

That was… odd.

The reaction they has was the opposite of Ned and Peter's…

And I didn't know why.

It wasn't like I was doing anything wrong: many other students had parents or siblings, even friends, helping them set up. My being here with Ned and Peter wasn't wrong…

Then why?

I huffed, going back to looking around. Those two must just have had a stick up their ass, simple as that.

"Well, look who showed up."

Before I even turned towards the voice, I watched as Peter, ever so faintly, said, "Oh no…"

I frowned in confusion, realizing quickly that this future conversation may be a problem. I turned towards the owner of the new voice, spotting a few teenagers that looked about Ned and Peter's age heading in our direction, the overly smug looking one in the lead.

"They actually let you present this cheap project?" Mocked the smug one, eyeing Ned and Peter's work in disdain. "They should have had a minimum to at least get the minimum of competence for this _prestigious_ award."

"Just go away, Flash," murmured Peter as Ned stood slightly behind his friend. Neither actually looked at the brat though.

"I'm allowed to look around," scoffed Flash, stuffing is hands into his pockets.

"Then we won't listen to you," replied Peter, focusing on his papers.

Flash shrugged but he almost looked a little ticked off. He opened his mouth but I stepped in between the young teenagers, raising an eyebrow.

The brat looked taken aback for a moment before snapping at me, "What do you want?"

"I'm allowed to look around," I replied, using his own words against him. "Not seeing much though."

There was a chorus of surprised gasps from the group behind Flash who almost bristled in anger. Little did he know that I was nowhere near intimidated by him.

And that lack of knowledge was going to bite him in the ass.

"They're letting anyone in these days," said Flash with an air of arrogance.

"I guess so," I said, unimpressed. "You and your group of mute followers got in somehow."

"I meant you and your hideous fashion sense."

I raised an eyebrow, giving his outfit a once over. "Not one to talk and if you had meant me, you need to be specific. I hope you were for your own project or there is no way you're leaving here with a prize."

Flash growled, frowning deeply, almost glaring at me and I could almost see him trying to come up with some type of rebuttal to my insults.

I wasn't going to give him the time.

"And, if I were you, I would be reviewing the work you probably got someone else to do to make sure you don't make a fool of yourself twice in the same day. Your ego looks too fragile to take that type of abuse."

I even heard Ned and Peter behind me inhale sharply as they tried to stay quiet. Flash, meanwhile, was seething, his mouth agape as he probably tried to figure out which part of that whole list of insults he needed to counter first.

" _Auf Wiedersehen,_ " I said, even waving him off as I did.

Flash took a deep breath, his mouth open to –

"Judges," hissed one of the lackeys behind min, grabbing his arm.

Flash jerked, scanning around and he seemed to deflate.

"This isn't over, Shorty," he growled out before whirling around and stomping away.

One.

Two.

Three.

I turned towards Ned and Peter and just managed to say under my breath, " _FUCKING ASSHOLE! I SHOULD BEAT HIM TO A PULP! DON'T CARE HOW MANY WITNESSES THERE ARE! I'LL SHOVE THAT ARROGANT FACE OF HIS INTO HIS OWN ASS!_ "

I took a deep, heavy breath and looked up to see Ned and Peter stare at me in surprise, blinking several times in confusion.

"Uh… We wanted to thank you for that… with Flash?" started Ned hesitantly.

"Yes… You, uh… That was something," continued Peter.

I waved them off, taking another deep breath. "I just couldn't let him or the rest see how much that last comment bothered me," I explained.

"What? When he called you sh…?"

Thankfully, Ned got the message from the glare I sent him and he didn't finish his question. He cleared his throat, no longer meeting my gaze before he quickly turned to Peter.

"When are your uncle and aunt coming?" he asked.

"Right, uh… Mid-afternoon? Around then. They were really looking forward to it. How about your parents?"

"After work. They told me they would try to get off early."

I guessed everyone was thankful for that change of subject.

* * *

I stayed nearby and watched Ned and Peter talk to a few passersby and two of the judges before I decided to look around at all the other projects in the convention center.

Purposely ignoring the one that 'Flash' character had done.

I had almost been tempted to go to his booth but I didn't think I would be able to stop myself from completely demolishing his project from beginning to end once I had gotten started.

Better safe than sorry.

As for the other projects, honestly, it was VERY impressive to what these young teenagers had done and at what level they were at. They all seemed so invested in their projects, in their research and were willing to put in the hard work necessary for it.

And those scholarships.

That last part seemed important for Ned and Peter. I didn't ask for details on that but it did make me wonder about their financial situation… Especially with that brat mocking them about how their project was on the lower end of the budget range.

Not that mocking someone for that was even worth it or even necessary. It didn't do anything except show that that _brat_ was a spoiled snob.

Hopefully, Ned and Peter hadn't taken it to heart…

Breathing deeply, I glanced around once more at the science projects to determine which… which…

Fuck…

My jaw and fists clenched tightly as I tried to keep a reign on my emotions.

One deep breath.

Another deep breath.

Just look AWAY!

I managed to tear my gaze away from – from the project on – on…

Another breath.

It was just a fucking… train. I picture of a DAMN TRAIN. It should not have affected me in such a way.

It… Shouldn't have but…

We were so close to THAT day…

The day…

I knocked into someone, stumbling to the side.

"Sorry," I quickly mumbled, barely glancing at the man I had hit before continuing on my way.

Squash those memories. I didn't need this. Not now.

The last couple of hours had gone by relatively well until now. I didn't want to wallow in those bad memories and ruin the overall experience, not just for me but for those boys as well. They may notice something considering how much of an open book I was.

The question remained though…

Why couldn't I just move on?

I wouldn't be able to see any of them again anyway…

It still hurt though.

I could possibly get back to Amestris but I couldn't get back to 1945.

It was impossible.

"Hey! I thought we'd lost you!" called out Ned. Shit, I hadn't realized I had already walked back to their booth. I hoped that face didn't show anything. "We just had another set of judges pass by! It went amazingly!"

Peter, meanwhile, was staring at me, head tilted to the side. "Are you –?"

Fuck.

"Really? They seem impressed?" I asked quickly, not wanting to answer Peter's unfinished question.

He glanced between myself and Ned who was already going into great detail about the encounter and he thankfully seemed to have dropped the question entirely.

Hopefully Ned's rambling could distract me enough and keep Peter from bringing up the subject once again.

I just needed to focus on something – anything – else and that included Ned's over expressive description of how their last presentation had gone.

* * *

_**Old Man** _

_You'd be very entertaining at the party._

_**Ed** _

_Not going. No stuffy parties for me_

_And Pepper won't let me punch anyone anyway_

_**Old Man** _

_I'll distract her. You do your thing._

I rolled my eyes, putting my cell phone back into my pocket. No matter how many text messages Tony was going to send, I was not going to that party.

Honestly, after this science fair, I planned on going back to the hotel room and wallow in private.

But, for now, I was going to keep hanging out with very smart 13-year-olds and answering some more questions about 'Edward' and the Howling Commandos.

All while trying to not show how painful those questions actually were.

I, at least, got them onto another subject when they brought something up about Star… Wars and, with one simple question, I had them _gushing_ about it for a very long time.

Honestly, I couldn't remember anymore if it was the 'Wars' or the 'Trek' one and now, I was too afraid to ask for a clarification: I still remembered Tony's warning from Halloween.

"Petey! Ned-boy!"

The three of us turned towards the source of the voice, stopping Ned in mid-explanation on the ways of something called the 'jedi'.

I was thankful for the newcomers because Ned had lost me VERY early in his explanation…

"Uncle Ben! Aunt May!" called out Peter happily, standing and jogging up to the two adults, large smiles on all of their faces.

I followed Ned as he also stood and we watched May hug Peter tightly as Ben ruffled his hair They finished greeting each other before the adults glanced in our direction.

"How's it going?" asked Ben. "And I see you've made a friend?"

"We're doing good!" answered Ned proudly, "and this is Evelyn –"

"Ed," I corrected him.

"Ed Elric," he finished over-excitedly.

"Nice to meet you," said Ben and I nodded back.

"Same," I said, keeping my hands in my pockets in case he wanted to greet me with a handshake.

I didn't particularly want to explain my automail and take away the attention from the boys' project. This was their day; I was just along for the ride.

Ned, meanwhile, just stared at the adults with wide eyes. "Mr. and Mrs. Parker, she's –"

"It's fine, Ned," I cut in again. "It's not a big deal anyway."

"Not –?"

"You have a very smart nephew," I continued, turning towards Ben and May, ignoring Ned's sputtering next to me as Peter tried to hide his chuckling and blushing face. "And he has an equally smart friend. Both boys completed a very interesting project."

"Oh, aren't you a smooth talker?" giggled May, giving Peter a tight squeeze. "We're very proud of both of them!'

I smiled at them, my fists clenching inside my coat pockets once more as… as memories of my mom praising Al and I crept up.

Why did this keep happening?!

I caught sight of Ben staring at me in concern for several heartbeats as Peter, May, and Ned chatted next to him but… I shook my head ever so slightly, forcing a smile onto my face.

"So, boys, want to give us a presentation?" he asked, turning his attention towards Peter and Ned.

The boys jumped at the opportunity to show off to Ben and May and I thankfully got a chance to collect myself and get my emotions under control.

Again.

I was just glad both uncle and nephew, even though they were almost too perceptive, also backed off and didn't continue their investigation on what was bothering me.

But… Maybe – maybe staying wouldn't be the best… I didn't want to ruin the day for these people. I –

Ben and May were suddenly on either side of me and I blinked in surprise. What…?

Oh.

Another set of judges had shown up and the boys were giving their presentation to them with the same enthusiasm they had shown since the beginning.

I just hoped

"How have they been doing so far?" asked Ben softly, leaning slightly down next to me. I almost exhaled in relief that this conversation would not be about me but about Peter and Ned.

"Good," I replied with a nod. "They were ready for all the questions the judges have asked so far."

"No thanks to you," said Ben just as softly and I turned towards him in surprise. "You may have missed it but the boys highly praised your help."

"It was nothing," I quickly said. "They truly are smart boys. I –"

"Easy there, Humble Pie," chuckled Ben. "I just want to say 'thank you'. Petey was a nervous wreck this morning before May and I left for work. He looks much more comfortable now."

I glanced towards Peter and studied him for a moment. Well, he did still seem to have some nervous twitches but, compared to this morning, he no longer seemed all that tense.

"I guess the accidental, actual run-in was fate," said Ben with a smile.

"They told about you that too?"

"Ned doesn't spare any details," he explained with a chuckle.

"That's true…"

"What are you two conspiring about?" asked May, leaning close to me on my other side.

"You heard the entire conversation," countered Ben in a mock-whisper.

"Why I never," gasped May, faking indignation, even going so far as to put a hand to her heart. "But, if I supposedly _did_ hear this conversation, I also want to thank you. These boys worked so hard for this. And, since I didn't hear the conversation, I want to say your dress is very cute."

I blushed, smiling at her and the three of us watched as Peter and Ned continued giving their presentation.

May and Ben didn't move from either side of me the entire time.

* * *

_**Old Man** _

_You know they won't card you and it's an open bar._

_**Ed** _

_Made other plans._

_You'll need to be bored alone._

_**Old Man** _

_Plans?! What plans?!_

_And that level of betrayal is noted and will be discussed when we get back._

_**Ed** _

_Dinner plans. I was surprisingly social today._

_**Old Man** _

_Who are you and what have you done with Short Stuff?_

_**Ed** _

_Putting cell phone away now._

_**Old Man** _

_On top of betrayal, you add disrespect as well._

_The gall you have young lady is astounding…_

I rolled my eyes at his last message, putting my cell phone back into my pocket, not bothering to answer. I heard the sound of another text message being received but the food I had ordered was ready and I needed both of my hands.

It was a lot of food.

I hadn't lied to Tony, I did have dinner plans: I had gotten pizzas from the small restaurant at the convention center for the Parkers and the Leeds, Ned's parents having arrived not long ago. It had taken some convincing but I managed to get all four adults to agree to me getting dinner for all of us considering how…

Spending time with them had made my day better than how it had started and they kept me from falling more and more into bad memories.

Even though the science fair was finishing in the next hour or so, I couldn't ignore not only my stomach's constant growling, but the growling coming from Peter and Ned's stomachs as well.

To be fair, they were still growing.

Sadly… They were still growing…

I brought the stack of pizzas back to their booth and placed them on an empty chair.

"Are you sure we can't –?"

"You don't have to worry about it, I promise," I interrupted as I opened the first box. "There's enough for everyone and it's my way of thanking all of you."

I noticed the adults share a look amongst each other as I took a slice of pizza and bit into it, raising an eyebrow as I motioned towards the rest of the food. May sighed, shaking her head with a smile on her face before giving me a side hug and squeezing tightly.

"Thank you for dinner, Ed," she said, grabbing a slice as well.

I hummed as I chewed and smiled in amusement as the boys nearly jumped onto the pizza box to get their own slices.

"Best day ever," repeated Ned in glee as he savored each bite.

As the group began eating, I glanced around the area once more, wondering which of the teams here would get the scholarships. Apparently, it would be a waiting game to find out who exactly won them and…

I truly did hope the boys would be one of the teams to get one.

They had worked hard and they deserved it: academically and because they were decent teenagers.

If not… Maybe I could convince Tony to spare some of that money had had too much of to help these boys. Them and their families had done a lot for me, a complete stranger, in only a few hours that…

I wanted to repay them somehow.

Even though Tony would most likely say 'no', Pepper would probably go along with it.

"Wait! We almost forgot!" said Ned suddenly, making a few people around him jump as he whirled towards me, pointing his second slice of pizza in my direction. "Let's exchange numbers! To keep in touch!"

I blinked, my pizza halfway to my open mouth. Numbers…? Numbers…?

Oh! Phone numbers! From our cell phones!

"Sure," I agreed, taking a bite of my pizza.

Ned was nearly bouncing in his seat as he pulled out his cell phone from his bag and started pushing several buttons almost frantically before stopping and staring at me.

Oh! Right, my phone number. I swallowed my bite of pizza as I tried to remember it. I didn't exactly give it out to people and everyone who needed it already had it.

Thankfully I did manage to remember it.

"What area code is that?" Wondered Ned's father.

"Sweetie, we can't exactly afford long distance messages," added Ned's mother softly.

Ned and Peter seemed to deflate for a moment and I made a mental note to look up what she meant. And what an area code was. And why something would be more expensive. And here I had thought I had been catching up well enough with modern technology! This just threw me for a whole new loop…

The boys were quiet for a moment before Peter actually snapped his fingers. "Emails!"

He searched around him as Ned cheered in agreement. Peter finally settled on a handful of postcards the organizers of the science fair had given out to the participants and began scribbling onto one of them.

But… Email… I vaguely remember that, in the amount of papers Agent Coulson had given me, there had been something along those lines but…

If Tony could look at what I searched with the tablet I used to have, then I wouldn't put it passed S.H.I.E.L.D. to snoop as well.

"Uh, mine was uh…" What was the word again? Oh yeah! "Hacked recently but I can give you my address and we can send messages through the post."

"Like olden times?" Asked Ned, almost in shock.

I twitched slightly at that comment but nodded nevertheless, coming up with an idea. "A postcard would be cool to receive from time to time until I get back and make a new email."

Peter, meanwhile, was nodding, continuing to scribble on his postcard. "So old-school but it'll be fun! And it'll cost less than sending texts across the country! I think the area code is from California, Mr. Leeds."

"I'm guessing you're on a spring break trip?" Wondered May with a chuckle.

I blinked, not exactly knowing what 'spring break' was but, "On a trip yes. I'm here with two others but they had meetings today and plans for the evening."

I caught both sets of adults sharing a look at their significant others and I wondered if they both caught on the fact that I did not use the words 'parents' or 'guardians'. Come to think of it… How old did they thing I was? Should I have described Tony and Pepper as… 'friends'?

I… I guessed they were?

Hell… Technically, they could be my guardians… But…

I just grabbed another slice of pizza and shoved an obscene amount in my mouth to avoid answering any possible questions and to stop myself from digging a deep hole with my vague and eye-opening answers.

"Here, Ed," said Peter, handing over two postcards and a pen. One postcard was blank while the other had the boys' phone numbers, emails and addresses written on it.

Sad to say but they had better handwriting than I did.

I stuffed more of the pizza in my mouth to free up my hand and began scribbling my phone number and the address in Malibu on the blank postcard. It wasn't like they would connect that address with it being Tony's anyway.

I just needed to keep that part to myself.

Besides, what other address did I have to give?

Just as I handed the postcard over, another set of judges walked over and Peter stuffed the paper into his bag before the boys restarted for the umpteenth time their presentation.

I just took another slice of pizza and stepped to the side.

* * *

I took a deep breath of the fresh, cool air as I and the two families left the convention center, later that evening. The science fair had ended and we had all helped in packing the papers and posters the boys had brought with them.

Now, for them, it was a waiting game. I vaguely understood that the results of the science fair would be determined by the end of the week, beginning of next week. Until then, the boys had already planned for several days of playing video games to keep them and their minds occupied.

Thankfully, before I opened my mouth to ask why they didn't have school for the week, Ben had mentioned how lucky they were to have their 'spring break' to enjoy after all their hard work.

That was what May had said to me. It must have been something to do with school, having days off and, for some reason, spring.

Even though we were still in winter, technically.

Well, overall, I just hoped the boys got the scholarships they had wanted.

They deserved it, not only academically but as people as well.

I glanced towards the side where the two families were saying goodbye to each other. It probably was time to return to the hotel to do… something. With a deep breath, I pulled out my cell phone to know how many possible text messages I may have missed before also saying… saying…

I… I just stared.

A few meters away, next to an illuminated fountain, a man knelt in front of a woman who looked overly surprised and ecstatic, covering her mouth with both hands. He, meanwhile, was smiling even though he looked overly nervous.

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out –

I inhaled sharply, staring at that small box, the one that was the same size as the one I had lost.

The one Bucky had wanted me to have.

What…?

I – I couldn't stop staring.

The man opened the box and a shiny ring sat inside and… and… he asked…, "– you marry me?"

I… I…

Numb…

My ears were ringing…

The… The box…

Ring…

Bucky had – had wanted…

He…

I didn't know when but… I was sprinting down the sidewalk.

I…

How – how had I not…? Not known? How…?

Maybe – maybe I shouldn't… It was better – better to not know…

It _hurt…_

It _HURT SO FUCKING MUCH_!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought! :D
> 
> P.S. I based Peter and Ned's science project on this project: https://www.1000sciencefairprojects.com/Chemistry/Photochemistry-Ammonium-Oxalate-and-Iodide.php  
> And, to be honest, I have no idea how science fairs work or if/how scholarships could be awarded for said science fairs but, for a work of fiction, this way worked the best for me :P


	4. Any betrunken excuse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all soooooo much for all the love for the fic so far!! Loved reading all the comments and seeing the amount of kudos/bookmarks this story has received!!  
> Thank you all so much!!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (And if you thought last chapter had angst, let's pepper in some more, shall we? ;P)

_Tony's POV_

Tony fished out his phone from his pocket, keeping his gaze fixed on the presentation in front of him, trying to not look as bored as he felt as he listened to someone droned on and one about… something.

Besides, Pepper had told him enough times to focus. Problem was, that had only been THAT day and she already seemed annoyed.

He didn't exactly want to incur her wrath just yet.

It was barely mid-day…

And there was a message from a specific woman he couldn't exactly ignore.

_**Peggy** _

_Am I right to assume you're currently in a meeting?_

Tony smirked. Peggy seemed to know exactly what was going on with him without even trying.

_**Tony** _

_You are right to assume but I will make time for you._

_**Peggy** _

_No, I'll call later when you're back at the mansion. I can talk to you and Ed at the same time._

_**Tony** _

_Not anywhere near the mansion._

_I'll message you when we get back to the hotel. Maybe Short Stuff will be there too._

_**Peggy** _

_Oh, where are you?_

_**Tony** _

_NYC_

_**Peggy** _

_You're closer than I expected._

_How is Ed handling it?_

Tony reread that text, confused. What sparked that question?

_**Tony** _

_Why would she handle it?_

_She looked fine at the museum with Pepper._

_**Peggy** _

_Looks could be deceiving._

Tony frowned at his phone as he recalled the picture Pepper had sent to him the other day. He hadn't lied to Peggy: Ed had seemed happy reading up on dinosaurs and fossils, looking almost like a child in a toy store.

But, if he believed Peggy – which he did, he would be foolish not to – Ed may not have been as happy as she had seemed to be.

"Pep," whispered Tony, leaning towards her as several business men and women discussed amongst themselves up front about… whatever. He had long given up on following what this meeting would be about.

She looked up from her tablet and leaned closer after he motioned for her to do so. "What is it?" she whispered back almost reluctantly.

"What's up with Short Stuff?" He asked and watched as Pepper's eyes widened in surprise. To be fair, he was asking about Ed and her well-being. He couldn't remember the last time he had vocalized that type of question.

"What makes you say that?"

"So, something is wrong?" Pepper was dodging the question. So, there must have been something going on that neither of them had shared. But… what?

Pepper hesitated, eyeing the other people in the room for a moment before taking a deep breath and leaning even closer to murmur, "Something's bothering her. I don't know what or why. She did enjoy certain places but others... she looked very pained."

"Pained?" repeated Tony in disbelief. "This is Short Stuff, right?"

Pepper raised an eyebrow, not seeming to enjoy his question as she leaned back and returned to her tablet, marking the end of the conversation. Tony watched Pepper for a moment longer before turning his attention back to his phone in confusion. Had that been what Peggy had been talking about? How would _Peggy_ have known though? He paused, smirking. It was Peggy afterall.

_**Tony** _

_What do you know that I don't about Short Stuff and NYC? Pepper used the word 'pained'._

_**Peggy** _

_I'm not surprised. Ed spent at least 2 weeks in NY with Steve after Dr Erskine's death._

Tony reread that reply several times, putting it together with the pieces of how Ed had been acting for the past several days.

The easiest piece was that she had NOT wanted to come to New York.

Tony had thought it had been because of the plane ride, of how much fuss she put up every time they flew anywhere.

Even when they had gone to see Peggy and Daniel.

However,… It hadn't even crossed Tony's mind that Ed had been to New York in the past.

With his least favorite person on top of that…

_**Peggy** _

_And… Was that concern I read in that last text?_

_**Tony** _

_They were just pixels. They don't carry concern_

Tony could already feel the knowing smile Peggy would probably be wearing while she read that text…

_**P**_ _**eggy** _

_So you say._

_**Tony** _

_It was very clear_

_**Peggy** _

_Suit yourself. I just wanted to add that you shouldn't be surprised she hadn't told you. We know she doesn't share things about her feelings._

_**Tony** _

_I'm not surprised_

_**Peggy** _

_Of course. Try to enjoy yourselves. You don't need to call me until you're back._

_**Tony** _

_I'll keep that in mind._

Even though the meeting had resumed, Tony continued to fiddle with his phone, thinking over what he had learned, not caring about what business plan these stuffy people were presenting.

Oddly, he should not have cared that much about Ed not actually having fun during this trip. It wasn't his responsibility to do so and she definitely wasn't his kid that he needed to take care of.

No matter what Rhodey kept insinuating about their relationship, she was NOT related to him.

Ed was a big girl and could take care of herself.

But…

He eyed the phone still in his hands, something coming to mind.

_**Tony** _

_Coming to the party tonight?_

He sent the message to Ed, remembering how he had talked to her about the benefit gala happening that night before the trip had begun. She had humored him while they had been in the workshop, about the chaos she could cause and just the stares she would get with her prosthetics.

Maybe the gala would be a good distraction for everyone. If she actually went through with her antics.

_**Short Stuff** _

_Most likely no_

Tony huffed at the response, pocketing the phone for now.

He still had the rest of the day to change her mind.

* * *

_**Tony** _

_You'd be very entertaining at the party_

_**Short Stuff** _

_Not going. No stuffy parties for me._

_And Pepper won't let me punch anyone anyway._

_**Tony** _

_I'll distract her. You do our thing._

Tony waited for a moment to see if Ed would respond but… she didn't. He fiddled with his phone some more before putting it away again. He had thought giving Ed 'almost' the permission to punch someone at the party she still refused to go.

He wondered for a moment what she was doing, what was keeping her busy and passing the time but refused to text her to find out.

He was not ready to stoop THAT low just yet.

* * *

_**Tony** _

_You know they won't card you and it's an open bar_

If Tony was being honest with himself – which he rarely was – he didn't even know if Ed had ever even taken a drink in her life and if the text would make her change her mind.

This was just a shot in the dark. Another vague attempt to get Ed to come to the party and improve her mood.

Whatever that mood was at the moment.

He still refused to ask.

_**Short Stuff** _

_Made other plans._

_You'll need to be bored alone._

Tony's eyes widened at that text. He had NOT been expecting that.

Ed. Had plans. Her. Plans.

And he vocalized his surprise in a quick message.

_**Tony** _

_Plans?! What plans?!_

And then he caught himself, realizing how it sounded. Therefore, to preserve his image he added,

_**Tony** _

_And that level of betrayal is noted and will be discussed when we get back_

There that didn't sound as surprised as he felt.

_**Short Stuff** _

_Dinner plans. I was surprisingly social today._

Tony double checked that he had indeed been texting the right person. He had. The next question was,

_**Tony** _

_Who are you and what have you done with Short Stuff?_

_**Short Stuff** _

_Putting cell phone away now._

_**Tony** _

_On top of betrayal, you add disrespect as well_

_The gall you have young lady is astounding_

_And stop saying 'cell phone' you sound 80 years old_

Tony wasn't sure if Ed had seen those last texts but he was honestly surprised that she was doing something.

With _someone_.

Ed almost never talked to anyone outside their close group. The only other person Tony had seen that was able to talk to her was that agent from S.H.I.E.L.D. and that hadn't been long as conversations went.

So… Who was this person she had DINNER PLANS with? How did she meet them?

And how did she trust them so much?

Tony did not understand what had changed – and he HATED not understanding.

Just a notch below hating these events he was forced to attend.

He scanned the crowd around him, taking in the sea of finely dressed people he was supposed to be schmoozing and being chatty with for…

He didn't even know anymore.

He…

Tony rubbed his arc reactor underneath is tuxedo, swallowing with difficulty: he had more pressing maters to attend to.

Thankfully, Pepper had been doing a good job talking to anyone of importance, getting into their good graces with her knowledge and…

Her smile.

Even Tony couldn't resist it sometimes.

At the moment, Pepper was doing a better job at doing HIS job than he was.

Damn distractions…

Tony wondered, not for the first time, how much longer he needed to spend at the party before he could leave and go back to the hotel and his room and some damn peace and quiet.

Pepper caught his gaze from across the way and motioned for him to come over.

Duty called…

He put on his press mask and walked over, reminding himself that he was doing this for Pepper.

* * *

Tony tried to focus, he actually did put in the effort but the conversation he was currently stuck in was OVERLY, DEFINITELY DULL and it took everyone of him to not roll his eyes or yawn in this man's face.

He knew he should have left when he had had the chance. The next lull in the conversation, Tony was making a bee line for –

He almost jumped at the sound of a phone ringing. His phone.

That was his way out!

He held up a finger to the man who still hadn't stopped talking and checked the front screen: an unflattering picture of Ed making a face was front and center.

Question was, why was she calling him? Did her plans end early? Even better excuse!

"I've gotta take this," said Tony, turning away from the STILL talking man and hit the 'answer' button, bringing the phone to his ear.

"So, changed your mind? Need a lift?" He asked before Ed could say anything.

There was a pause on the other end as Tony made his way through the crowd.

"Um… Sorry to bother you, but do you know the owner of this phone?" asked a female voice on the other end making Tony pause in confusion.

That was NOT Ed's voice.

And the woman sounded… somewhat worried.

Something had happened. He could sense it.

Maybe he should have insisted that Ed stay with him and Pepper. They could have at least kept an eye out for her. This could have been avoided.

"Yes, I do. Did something happen?" asked Tony, keeping his voice steady and even.

"Honestly… We saw her run off but she had dropped her phone in the process," explained the woman with a sigh. "We don't know why and we couldn't keep up. My nephew said she looked… sad."

Tony had made it to the hallway and leaned against the wall, confused by the news.

Well… She hadn't been kidnapped and used for a ransom so this was a step up.

But, hadn't Ed been…?

"Are you the 'plans' she had tonight?" he asked, remembering the texts Ed had previously sent.

"I guess so," she replied. "She had run into our nephew and his friend and she had been with us since then. Until…"

"Until she ran off for no apparent reason," finished Tony, knowing Ed had a good reason and it could very well have had something to do with New York and the 1940s. ESPECIALLY if she looked 'sad'.

But… What had triggered it?

"You don't know why she ran off?" he asked.

"I couldn't say. We had been talking to my nephew's friend's family at the time."

Tony silently huffed. That didn't help him. "How long ago did you lose her?" he asked, checking his watch.

"About 10 minutes ago. My nephew found her phone and we hoped you would maybe know where to find her."

"Where had you been?"

The woman gave him a description of where she was and where they had last seen Ed. Tony did a mental calculation and realized… Ed could possibly have run back to the hotel by then.

It would be good place to start.

"Alright, thank you for contacting me," said Tony, putting together a plan. "Keep her phone safe for now, I'll arrange for a pick up."

"If you do find her, could you please send me a message on this phone?" asked the woman softly. "We're we're all worried about her."

Tony wondered once more just how Ed not only met these people, but also had them this concerned about her.

She apparently had a gift.

This situation didn't sound all too different than with Pepper.

And maybe him as well.

"Deal," said Tony. "Thanks again."

"I just hope she's okay."

"She's a tough girl."

The woman giggled on the other side of the line. "That I agree with you. Goodnight."

"'Night."

Tony pocketed his phone and took a step towards…

Damn, Pepper.

She would have his head if he just up and left.

She hadn't exactly let him forget about the time at the firefighter benefit where he had left her alone on the roof…

But, at the same time, he didn't want to worry her, to distract her, during this gala. It was apparently important. He needed to formulate a good excuse.

Tony glanced back at the open doors, at the swarm of people in there and easily spotted Pepper amongst them.

She must have sensed his gaze on her because she glanced in his direction, raising an eyebrow in a questioning manner.

Tony, thinking quickly, raised his phone and motioned towards the exit, mouthing 'Ed' as he did along with pretending to steer. He could pretend to go pick her up which, could possibly be true if she hadn't reached the hotel just yet.

He wasn't completely lying.

Yet.

Pepper frowned, almost seeming worried for a moment but Tony smiled, giving her a thumbs up and –

Jogging away before Pepper could ask any questions and possibly worry herself even more.

For now, Tony had a young, stubborn and emotional woman to look in on.

It was a good excuse to leave the gala as well.

* * *

It had taken Tony longer than he had wanted to get back to the hotel, no matter how good of a driver he was as he weaved in and out of traffic.

There were always too many cars on the New York City streets…

Tossing his keys to the valet, Tony took long strides across the lobby, bypassing several groups dressed in their best, possibly from a party happening in one of the ballrooms at the hotel. He headed straight to the elevator, remembering after a moment which floor they were on. He usually relied on Pepper for that.

On the long and quiet ride up, Tony finally took a moment to wonder what exactly he would say to Ed if he truly did find her in her room. He had wanted to get away from the gala and he did so.

But…

Conversing about _emotions_ with Ed was never something either of them really did.

Well, he had promised to find Ed for that woman on the phone. He would do that and be on his way.

Simple as that.

Simple…

Then why did he have a feeling it wouldn't be considering it was Ed of all people. She never did _simple_ …

Tony made his way down the deserted corridor, stopping in front of the young woman's room. He paused for a moment, wondering once more what he would say to her but decided to just wing it.

He did his best work that way anyway.

He knocked loudly at the door and waited.

Nothing.

Double checking that he had the right room number, he knocked again with the same force.

Still nothing.

He couldn't hear anything on the other side, no movement, no water running from the bathroom.

Well, if Ed wasn't in her room… Where would she be?

It wasn't like he could track her phone: it was with that mystery woman who had called him.

Taking a deep breath, Tony looked around, going through his options to start looking for Ed and where exactly she could have gone. He needed –

There was a solid thud on the other side of the door, in the room Tony had assumed had been empty.

He had apparently assumed wrong.

Ed really did bring out that side of him, didn't she?

"Hey, Short Stuff?" called out Tony stepping closer to the door. "What's going on in there?"

And… He was back to silence.

Even though a part of him wanted to walk away happy with the knowledge that Ed was actually and physically in her room… He groaned out in frustration, knowing that, deep down, he wouldn't be able to just leave.

Taking a deep breath, Tony shifted closer to the door, trying not to sigh at the situation.

"Open the door, Short Stuff," he said, trying the handle that was of course locked.

Still nothing.

She could have at least responded to the nickname she hated.

With another huff, Tony pulled out his phone, punching in a few commands. "J, do your thing."

With a quick glance down the still deserted corridor, Tony placed his phone onto the lock pad of the door, watching as JARVIS worked his magic and –

Voila. Door unlocked.

"Coming in, Short Stuff!" called Tony in warning, pushing the door open to… to…

He had NOT heard a bottle breaking. So where, no WHEN, had these pieces gotten there? Strewn across the floor.

He kicked some pieces of broken glass aside, spotting the label of strong liquor on several of them.

Problem with the situation in front of him was… He didn't exactly smell a whole lot of said liquor around the carpet.

Had – had the bottle been EMPTY when it had been broken? Then, where had all the alcohol gone?

And where was Ed?

She hadn't… hadn't drank all of it, had she?

Tony slowly made his way further into the room, scanning around and… The bed was a disheveled mess and Tony spotted a second bottle of whiskey on the nightstand.

Open and partially empty.

"Short Stuff?" called out Tony, walking closer to the bed, continuing to search the room. He had heard something in here. Maybe she was in the bathroom? She could have –?

" _Leave me alone, Colonel Bastard!_ " came Ed's voice from behind the far side of the bed. Not only did it sound like she was on the floor but…

Her words were SLURRED.

" _I – I do NOT need your pestering! Not today!_ " she continued as her hand shot up from the other side of the bed, smacking against the mattress and began pulling an apparently uncooperative body up.

Tony blinked in surprise as Ed's face finally appeared. Not only did she look intoxicated with her mess of a hairstyle but… her eyes were blood-shot and her cheeks were tear-stained. She stared at Tony for a moment before sniffling and rubbing her face harshly with her sleeve and heaving herself completely onto the bed, flopping heavily onto it.

And then reaching for the bottle of whiskey.

" _I didn't take you for a drinker_ ," remarked Tony slowly in German, watching in almost shock as Ed took a large gulp of alcohol. " _Think you may have had enough?_ "

He truly hoped she hadn't had the ENTIRE other bottle on top of this one.

Ed shook her head as she swallowed the liquid, making a face before flopping onto the stack of pillows, sniffling once more. " _Told ya to… leave me alone, Mustang. Don't judge my – my drinking. Not drunk enough._ "

Well, that was a lot to process. She had called him 'Colonel Bastard' and now 'Mustang'. Was she confusing multiple people together? Same person?

And, how would she react to said person or people?

Hopefully she wouldn't get violent: Tony had no idea how in control Ed would be of… anything in her current, drunken state.

Well, according to her, not drunk enough state…

" _Where did you even get these bottles?_ " asked Tony, keeping a certain distance from the bed in case Ed decided to throw the bottle in her hand.

She huffed, shaking her head. " _Stole them. The bar was full at the party,_ " she mumbled, rubbing her eyes again. " _May need more… Easy to – to steal…_ "

" _And the goal of getting drunk is…?_ "

" _Drunk enough to forget…,_ " groaned out Ed, burying her face into the pile of pillows.

Tony hummed in response, eyeing Ed for a moment before confirming it was possibly safe enough to at least sit on the bed as he thought over that she had said.

To forget. Did she mean about being in New York? About what had happened in the past with Rogers?

Had she been affected… THAT badly by this trip?

Tony… almost felt like guilt was worming its way up.

And he did not like that feeling.

" _If you want to go back to Malibu,_ " began Tony slowly, trying to ignore whatever churning emotions were building up within him. " _We can arrange a ride back tomorrow so you can –_ "

" _No…,_ " whined Ed, her voice muffled by the pillows. " _Pepper'll be diza – disappointed… I can't… can't do that to her. Her and – and even Tony have done so much. No…_ " She flopped onto her side, taking a shaky breath. " _Besides… Here or Ma – Malibu… The date won't change…_ "

Tony nodded, having thankfully understood all of her slurred words as he went over that new information. Date. Forget the date.

Speaking of…

What day _were_ they?

Tony checked on his phone and…

He massaged his face, sighing heavily. For all those talked with dear old dad, Tony apparently squashed most of them to the back of his memory. Where locations and dates of events didn't matter.

However, to understand _this_ particular reaction, Tony's memory served him overly well.

The beginning of March.

1945.

Before losing Steve Rogers and everyone from 1945, Ed had lost Bucky Barnes.

If Tony remembered correctly, Barnes had gone on a mission with Rogers and Jones to capture Dr. Zola. The mission had been considered a success since the doctor had been captured but…

Barnes had fallen off the train and into the ravine below to ensure that success.

Even though Tony had heard that Ed, Rogers and Barnes had been close, he hadn't apparently realized exactly _how close_ they were. And he didn't particularly _want_ to know because he had this feeling that _emotions_ would get involved. He didn't do _emotions_.

" _Well, you know what may help?_ " began Tony. " _I heard they're creating a –_ "

" _No_ ," hiccuped Ed, shaking her head almost violently before seeming to regret it. " _No… Tony… He does that… to distract me. I did it too… It… It works but… Can I keep pushing these memories away? I – I'm running away, aren't I?_ "

Tony stayed quiet, listening to Ed. He… He didn't exactly have something to add. He did distract her. She had distracted him. It had worked.

In the past.

But what was causing Ed to change her view on this now?

" _I've been running away all trip,_ " she mumbled, taking another gulp of whiskey, some spilling from the side of her mouth before she made a face.

Tony reached out for the bottle but Ed snatched it away, cradling it protectively as she sent him a glare.

" _It's important to share,_ " said Tony in the hopes of getting the bottle away from the UNDERAGED DRUNK.

He still hadn't found out how much she had had… He almost didn't want to know by this point…

Ed hesitated a moment as Tony motioned for her to hand over the bottle once again. Thankfully she did and Tony pretended to take a sip and held it as far as possible from her, partially hiding it amongst the strewn blankets and pillows in the hopes she would forget about it entirely.

" _So, done with running away?_ " asked Tony, wanting to distract her from the liquor and back on her train of thought she had started.

Ed groaned, curling up upon herself and even grabbing a pillow and hugging it tightly. She was quiet for a while, her gaze unfocused as she stared out in front of her at… Tony wasn't sure.

He just waited.

" _Why… Why does it hurt to remember them?_ " asked Ed almost too softly. " _It's almost as if… The more I try to NOT… NOT think about them… The more it hurts._ "

" _And when you do think about them?_ "

Ed held onto the pillow tighter, still focused on that one unknown spot. " _I – I talked about them today. I HAD to… to remember. It… It still hurt but – but NOT like now._ " She blinked her gaze seeming more focused as she turned towards Tony, frowning slightly. " _Why?_ "

" _Why it hurts?_ " whispered Tony, not exactly liking the conversation at the moment.

Because he didn't want to remember either: he had a damn good job over the years and was fine with the mental gymnastics he had had to do.

But…

He knew that he himself had been in Ed's place often enough with no one there to help. He didn't exactly want to put her through the same thing.

" _Because it does,_ " replied Tony slowly. " _It's a loss. Like your limbs. They didn't stop hurting overnight. This won't either…_ "

Ed hummed in response, once again staring out at something. Her eyes seemed more glazed than they had previously been but her grip on the pillow seemed even tighter.

Tony even wondered if she had actually listened to a word he had said.

It would have been insulting if she hadn't.

But…

She _was_ drunk.

" _So, do I stop… stop talking about them, remembering them?_ " asked Ed softly. Oh, apparently, she HAD heard him. " _Or… Do I put – put myself through it…?_ "

Tony sighed, leaning heavily on his hand. When did he become a therapist on top of everything else? He had a lot of knowledge and degrees but psychology wasn't on the list yet.

" _Scientifically proven, talking works,_ " he finally replied. " _Not that I do it._ "

Ed shook her head. " _Don't either. Even though Steve always wanted to. Bucky too. He…_ " She chocked on her words, gripping her pillow so much tighter.

And Tony's eyes widened when he saw actual tears coming from Ed.

This only confirmed that he was probably missing a large piece of this… this puzzle.

He eyed Ed, going over several key information he had accumulated since her arrival.

The missing box. Tony was sure he knew what it was but Ed didn't seem to. All she had been told was that it was meant for her.

And losing it had upset her. Deeply. Even though she had tried to hide it, Tony knew.

Then, she had mentioned how her gender had been known by some of the Howling Commandos.

Namely, a certain Bucky Barnes.

The one who had caused this most recent string of tears. The anniversary of his death only added fuel to the emotionally unstable fire.

If Tony were a betting man – wait, he was, usually – he would bet on there having been a secret relationship between –

" _I'm stupid…_ ," mumbled Ed, sniffling slightly. " _How was I supposed to know – to know there was a FUCKING ri – ring in that box?_ "

Tony just sat there and listened, realizing she was going to be confirming whatever thoughts he just had. He was almost disappointed that he hadn't had time to bet on the outcome.

" _Bucky, he… Fuck, doesn't matter, does it? Even if I had said – said 'yes', I'm HERE. I'm STUCK here…_ "

Even though he had been right, Tony didn't exactly feel like celebrating.

Not when Ed looked and sounded like this… On how she was telling… telling…

It struck Tony suddenly… Ed was being in a very sharing mood which was out of the norm for her.

He had to be careful though on how to proceed because, one badly worded statement and Ed would probably stop telling him anything.

" _Not that this isn't refreshing but,_ " Tony paused, noticing that Ed had lifted her head slightly to look at him, " _you've shared a lot with me but… not with Pepper or Tony._ "

Ed groaned, curling upon herself and burying her face into her pillow once more. The two of them were quiet as Tony waited, almost hoping that Ed didn't shut down because of that question.

" _I should,_ " mumbled Ed finally, her voice so muffled that Tony needed to lean closer to be able to understand her. " _I know I should. They're the closest people I have here. Even though Tony can be an asshole… Like you, Colonel Bastard. You'd get along together too well… I don't ever want to see it… Not – not that I ever would… They are – are all I have and… I do care about them…_ " She turned her head enough to look at Tony. " _Funny… How I – I'm telling you all this… Oh well… You're a – a delusion… Illusion? Whatever it's called…_ "

Ah… Tony understood better now why she was being so talkative: she didn't think he was actually there. Because… Was this Colonel gone? Was he from the other world? Both?

" _But I don't want them to worry,_ " continued Ed with a sigh. " _They- they deserve better than what I'm doing… putting them through… They've done so much for me and – and here I am… Drunk. An emo – emotional mess. Unable to share the slightest… problem with them._ "

Tony didn't respond right away because… that last part hit a little too close to home. " _This Tony character may be the same,_ " he mumbled.

" _Same feeling,_ " scoffed Ed pushing herself up into a sitting position. " _But, doesn't make – make what I said less true…Give me some._ "

Ed reached out to grab the bottle and Tony realized he should have actually hidden it from the stubborn and persistent young, drunk woman.

Tony moved the bottle further away, saying, " _That's enough, Short Stuff, don't want you to get alcohol poisoning._ "

The moment those words left his mouth, Tony froze. He may have ruined the illusion. He called Ed 'Short Stuff'. Only he called her that… Would she –?

Ed groaned loudly, leaning too forward. " _Not you too! Tony – Tony's bad habit got to you too… But… Should have seen that coming… You always teased me about my height. Just stick to Fullmetal like usual, will you?_ "

Tony frowned at the name. Full… metal?

" _To be fair, you're more quarter metal,_ " he mumbled in surprise.

Ed chocked, her shoulders shaking until…

She started laughing. A drunken, unsteady laugh that ended with Ed falling to her side, onto Tony's lap, the remnants of giggles and hiccups coming up every so often.

Ed drunk was… something.

" _Bottle,_ " she hiccuped, stretching and trying to grab it again.

Tony moved it away again but he had less room to do so considering Ed was almost on top of him. " _You had more than enough,_ " he stated, using his other arm to slowly push her away.

" _No… Told ya… Not drunk enough… Been – been drunker…_ " That was news to Tony. She had PREVIOUSLY been drunk? And in a worse state than now? WHEN?! " _Besides, I can – can…_ "

Ed didn't finish, blinking in surprise and Tony worried for a moment she would throw up on him. Thankfully, she just shook her head, falling back onto Tony's legs.

" _No, no, stop talking,_ " she mumbled to herself, massaging her face. " _You promised Dr. – Dr. Erskine. No telling anyone. Mustang… even an illusion… is included in no one._ "

Tony was beyond confused at those words. What had happened that long ago? What had Ed been talking about?

" _What can't you tell me?_ " he asked, unable to stop his curiosity from getting the better of him.

Ed was staring at the ceiling, blinking multiple times. Too many times.

" _Sh – Fullmetal?_ " tried Tony, that word feeling weird to say.

Ed inhaled sharply, her gaze focusing on Tony once again. " _You're still here? Persis… Parsis… Persistent illusion,_ " she mumbled, closing her eyes and covering her face with one arm. " _Think Al could – could visit next time…?_ " she breathed out softly.

Al. Tony at least recognized that name: Ed had at least mentioned her brother on more than one occasion. So, did that mean this Mustang was from her world? What had been their relationship? She didn't exactly sound like she was OVERLY fond of him but she did seem to trust him as well. Just another enigma that was Ed it seemed…

" _Can't make any promises,_ " replied Tony.

" _Figured…_ " Ed yawned loudly, stretching before she repositioned herself. " _Well… Say 'hi' to him when you leave… Winry and Riza too…_ " Ed seemed to fading fast by then. " _Maybe you'll see Steve and Bucky… And… Every – everyone I keep… keep losing… I…_ "

She didn't finish as she fell into a solid sleep.

On Tony's lap.

He stared at her and then around the room, confused and unsure of what had just happened.

And almost uncomfortable with the position he was now in.

He… He shouldn't have gotten so attached. He shouldn't have let Ed get so attached…

Tony massaged his arc reactor, a constant reminder of the damage he had caused and now, how that damage was getting back at him in a very slow and painful way.

Palladium poisoning was no way to die.

He looked down at Ed's sleeping – no, _unconscious_ form, playing over some of the conversation they just had.

Especially the part about losing people.

She had lost the people in that parallel world of hers. She had lost most of the people from 1945.

How was he supposed to break the news to her about…

Tony shook his head. There had to be a way around it: he was GOING to find a cure. He was going to fix this mess so that Pepper, Rhodey, Happy and especially not Ed would worry about him and the possibility of him DYING.

He wouldn't give up THAT easily.

Tony massaged his face before stretching to put the bottle of whiskey onto the nightstand, still slightly astounded that Ed had drunk that much and only just now passed out.

If he had ever thought of her as a lightweight, he had just been proven wrong.

Tony sighed, staring down at Ed as she – lightly snored?! He chocked back a chuckle, not having expected that! Since when did she _snore_?!

Ed had fallen asleep on many occasions, in many different places throughout the months she had lived at the mansion but this had been the first time he had heard her _snore_.

With a sigh, Tony watched Ed for a bit longer, wondering for a moment how much of a hangover she would have in the morning.

And… What would she remember then?

Oh well, that was tomorrow's problem.

For the night, Tony slowly moved Ed off of him, making her lie on her mound of pillows instead. He made a mental note to ask how many extra pillows she had asked for so far.

Should he order some more pillows for the mansion?

Would Ed be swimming in them by the end of the month?

Maybe he should double check the other guest rooms to make sure those beds still had their own pillows or not.

Shaking his head, Tony rolled off the bed and eyed Ed's sleeping form.

She truly was unconscious.

After filling a glass with water, leaving it on the nightstand, bringing the waste basket closer to the bed and even covering Ed with a blanket, Tony grabbed the still intact bottle of whiskey and made his way to the door.

Ed's soft snoring filling the room once more.

" _Goodnight, Full…_ " Tony shook his head, not caring for that name. "Short Stuff."

That was more fitting.

And he left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought! :D
> 
> (I'll try to answer some comments tonight, if not, tomorrow for sure!)


	5. Apparently, questionable decisions...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to all the readers who have kept up with this story so far. This chapter was going to be longer but, considering the 2nd part is still in the process of being written (and parts just keep getting added), I figured a shorter chapter now would be better than a very long chapter in... who knows when. :P
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
> 
> Previously: After spending a day with Peter and Ned, Ed ran away from them after realizing that the box Bucky had wanted to give her contained an engagement ring. Tony later finds her drunk and emotional in her hotel room.

_Ed's POV_

I rolled onto my side, taking a slow, deep breath, trying to cling to any ounce of sleep I could reach because I didn't want to get up just yet. I didn't even want to actually wake up: I would have been fine continuing to sleep, to stay lost in the darkness, in the quiet, in anything but reality.

I didn't feel like shit while I was asleep.

Laying there, I slowly breathed in and out, trying to get back to sleep but… I truly did feel horrible and it kept me from slipping back to unconsciousness. My head hurt, the inside of my mouth felt pasty and I was just… drained.

What exactly had happened last night? What fight did I get into? Did I fight? My body itself wasn't sore though. Had I gotten sick? On what? Had I felt sick during the day? And it had only gotten worse? So many questions and I didn't have an answer to any of them.

I took another deep breath, squishing myself onto the soft pillows and gripping the blankets tightly as if getting into a more comfortable position could possibly give me strength. Alright… I should go over what I remembered had happened to try and figure out… out…

I squeezed my eyes shut, the memory of the couple flashing before my eyes. The box. The RING. Of course, THAT memory came back easily.

Still… I – I couldn't believe that Bucky had wanted to propose. He had wanted to MARRY me. Me, of all people. I just felt so stupid for not realizing it before… That box. What had I thought had been in there exactly? I never actually stopped to think about it. I hadn't wanted to think about it.

I ran away from the thought.

Like I had done yesterday.

Like I had done with a lot of stuff lately… Memories, places, thoughts, it was all pushed aside: I did not want to deal with any of them. I hadn't wanted to feel that pain anymore.

But…

It still hurt. Remembering it or not. It _hurt_.

So…? What was I supposed to do about it then? What could I do?

For now, I curled up even more into the pillows and blankets, trying to find a comfortable position to deal with the uncomfortable thoughts.

If I found the courage to do so…

No.

Pressing my head firmly against the pillow, I took a deep breath, digging deep within me to find that courage. I had faced worse; I had gone through so much.

I could face this.

I… could. I just needed to convince myself of that.

Bucky had wanted to spend the rest of his life with me of all people. Knowing that… it almost felt good. Yes, it hurt because he was gone but… it was still a nice thought, a comforting one, one that didn't send pangs of guilt and longing.

I needed to remember the good stuff.

The good stuff, for Bucky, for Steve.

For all the Howling Commandos.

It hurt but –

I squinted, a flicker of… a thought? Or was it a memory? Something about it hurting for a while. That it was normal for it to hurt but that it would eventually get better, that it would hurt less.

Well, it somewhat made sense.

So… That meant that, sadly, everything I had been doing for the past several days had been the wrong approach. I didn't particularly care to admit that but… it was the first step in this… process?

I almost shuddered at that thought: it could be a long process… But, I needed to start somewhere.

And maybe this trip wouldn't be a horrible memory down the road. Maybe I could turn this around and not sulk my way through the rest of the week. I didn't want to do that to Pepper, not after all the effort she put into this trip. She deserved better.

And possibly even Tony, not that I had even seen him yet.

I shifted around on the bed, turning and shifting until… I hit a pile of pillows? I opened my eyes slightly, noticing that I was well surrounded by MANY pillows, way too many of them. When had that happened? How had that happened?

Why couldn't I –? Oh, fuck…

"Damn it…," I groaned out, massaging my face.

Headache. Sluggish. Bad taste in mouth. Bad memory.

I had felt like this once before. I KNEW this whole ordeal of feelings…

I was hungover.

How did I JUST realize this?

How much had I actually drunk? Where had I even gotten the alcohol? Had it been beer? Something stronger? Both?

This was a mess…

Hopefully I recovered from this quickly, thanks to the serum in my blood. I was more tolerant to alcohol so the amount I had had must have been A LOT to keep me from remembering anything that had happened.

I debated for I don't know how long on whether or not I should even move from the bed. It was comfortable and I was hungover, sore, tired and overall, not in the mood to do much of anything at the moment.

But…

I was also thirsty.

And needed to pee.

I just didn't want to move…

Shifting once more, I slowly rolled over to the side of the bed, trying to convince myself that I needed to actually –

Wait.

Was that a glass of water? And actual glass of water?

Had I been that prepared for this level of hungover that I had gotten a glass ready?

I paused, thinking it over before chuckling to myself.

That definitely didn't sound like me.

Then…? Screw it. It was a mystery for later.

Shaking my head slightly, I sat up and grabbed the glass, gulping down the entire contents almost too quickly. With a content sigh, I placed the glass back on the nightstand and glanced around, even at… Huh. I finally noticed I was still wearing yesterday's clothes. Great… Shower was the next step.

Staggering to my feet, I slowly found my balance as I hobbled around the bed constantly leaning on it for support, taking in the number of pillows on it.

I seemed to make weird decisions when I was drunk apparently…

What exactly had I drunk?

I looked around the room but I couldn't find any bottles, any sign of alcohol. Where had I been drinking then if it wasn't here? How had I gotten back to this room if I had gone out? I had gone out? Dread pooled in my stomach at the idea that I may have used that emergency credit card Pepper had given me to buy said alcohol… somewhere.

I was getting so confused and worried…

I was going to have SO much explaining to do if I truly had used that card… Shit. I wouldn't hear the end of it, especially not from Tony.

Taking a deep breath, I continued on my way to the bathroom, figuring it was best to at least start with a shower and try to not worry too much. The money was spent. The alcohol had been consumed. I couldn't do anything about it now. What I could do was get out of these day-old clothes off and –

Wait.

What was that?

There was a folded piece of paper near the front door and I bent down to pick it up.

Son of a bitch…

Could he not have just sent me a text message?

Instead, he wrote on a piece of paper and labelled it 'Short Stuff'.

Tony was asking for a swift kick in the ass and I should tell him that with… with…

Wait. Where _was_ my cell phone?

I couldn't remember seeing it on my way to the bathroom. Maybe it was lost somewhere on the bed amidst all the pillows and blankets?

Well, after tossing everything to the floor and searching the room, I came up empty.

Possibly having used the credit card, a dozen pillows and now a missing cell phone, it truly did show that I had been left unattended and drunk…

I was going to have to explain this to Pepper and Tony if I was to get a new cell phone. I wondered how they would react to me drinking. Pepper would probably freak out and ask me to never do it again to that extent.

Which, to be fair, I wouldn't actually do after this reminder on how much a hangover sucked.

Besides, I had decided to not run away anymore and drinking away my sorrows was not going to let me confront my problems.

Alright, shower and figuring out a way to break the news to… maybe Tony first. He shouldn't give me too much grief. He would probably tease – or even mock – me but I shouldn't actually get a lecture from him.

Speaking of…

I had forgotten about the paper he had left and unfolded it.

**_Meeting tonight in Queens. You can't bail on it like you did with the gala._ **

**_Be ready to leave the hotel at 7pm._ **

I reread the message, processing the words and the overall content.

What did he mean 'meeting'? In Queens? With who?

And why did _I_ have to be there?

But… Heading to said meeting could be a good moment to ask for a new cell phone. Or maybe he had a way of finding mine. Somehow. Technology had advanced a lot, maybe someone had invented a way to find a lost cell phone.

Fine, I would be ready for this 'meeting', wherever it was for whatever reason.

He just better not expect me to be on my best behavior: he'll get what he'll get.

What time was it anyway?

I pulled out my pocket watch and –

Fuck! It was past 11am?! Either I had been more tired than I had thought or I had drunk A LOT more than the last time. Either way, this was probably the latest I had woken up in a long time and I didn't think it was going to happen again.

And, thanks to this hangover, even if I had slept for that many hours, I still felt tired and horrible.

That shower sounded better by the moment.

* * *

_Later that day – Statue of Liberty_

I climbed off of the ferry, letting people filter past me at a faster pace. I wasn't in the same amount of a rush to see – to see… that big oxidized statue. It didn't matter what Steve had said, I would still call her that. Yes, she was impressive but nature was still running its course on the elements that made up her metal. Also, I still had some remnants of a headache so I was in no rush to do anything to be fair.

As I walked down the paths, I took several deep breaths, reminding myself that this was something I needed to do, that I needed to get through and face.

I hadn't wanted to come here the other day with Pepper because of the memories I had, the ones with Steve, when he had brought me here on his birthday of all days. I hadn't wanted to face those memories, to see the same places I had seen with him. Especially knowing that I wouldn't be able to do that again.

But… By avoiding coming here… I lost the chance to – to make new memories with Pepper. I fucked up a lot of new memories with Pepper by wallowing during our days visiting the city.

I massaged my head, guilt worming its way through me. Pepper had tried so hard and I had… had run away. I was not proud of that. When I saw her again, I promised myself I would apologize profusely. Maybe I would explain the reason for all of this.

That part, though, depended on how this visit was going to go.

Looking around, I realized I had gotten much closer to the statue in the midst of all my thoughts.

I had to admit, the Statue of Liberty was just as impressive as the first time I had seen her. Craning my neck, I stared up at her for a while, taking in the details before my mind wandered to… to the last time I had been here. I had had still been recovering from the bullet wound and Steve had been told to stay out of the war.

And he had yet to realize he was going to become the poster boy of the army recruitment without even having participated in the war.

It had been the beginning of Steve and I's several month stubbornness trip and… the beginning of our friendship.

I felt my heart clench at that thought but I took a deep breath none the less, remembering the good times we had had. About the time I taught Steve to fight and he broke the punching bag. About the times we went to see a movie. About the times we ran away from the chorus girls.

When we argued about the other taking the bed.

All those memories brought a smile to my face and even a chuckle.

Glancing around, I spotted an empty bench and made my way over to it, taking a seat and removing my backpack. I dug inside of it and pulled out a small package wrapped in brown paper. Inside…

Banana bread.

Someone had to keep the tradition going.

Even though we were far from the 4th of July, I felt it was only fitting that, if I was going to visit the statue of liberty, I should at least bring the same food that I had eaten last time I had been here. Holding up the piece of banana bread, I glanced at the oxidized statue once again and raised the piece up towards her.

" _Here's to you. And to Steve and the others,_ " I said before taking a bite.

I continued to study the statue as I slowly ate the banana bread, barely registering all the people that filtered past me, the families, tour groups, couples…

That brought up another sore spot.

Even though I hadn't come here with Bucky, I still had memories with him, on our dates and even while I was still just 'Edward'.

I felt my heart clench at those memories as they joined the ones that concerned Steve, Bucky and myself and then even those with the rest of the Howling Commandos. It was painful but I didn't run away from them, I didn't try to bury those memories, to forget.

Forgetting them would probably be worse.

No, I focused on them, on the people of 1945 that I had lost, trying to go through each memory and savor each and every one of them.

That, of course, made me tear up, the emotional pain swelling up inside me.

I must have been a sight, alone, on a bench in front of the Statue of Liberty, crying and eating banana bread.

I was damn thankful no one thought to check on my mental stability.

The process continued – I forced myself to continue – until all the banana bread I had brought with me was gone and then… I exhaled, slouching heavily on the bench.

It still pained me, on the inside but… – it could honestly just be wishful thinking at this point – it didn't feel as bad.

I may have lost them but I was not going to lose these memories.

No one could take these away from me.

And that was comforting.

Taking a deep breath, I rubbed my cheeks, drying them before standing and stretching. I studied the Statue of Liberty for a moment longer before heading to catch the ferry back to Manhattan.

One step at a time, I was going to get better.

I was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought! :D
> 
> Hopefully I get the next chapter up soon!


	6. Surprise Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you SOOOOO much to you wonderful readers and for all the kudos/comments/bookmarks this story has received so far!!
> 
> As promised, a longer chapter than the previous one! :D
> 
> Enjoy!!
> 
> Previously: Ed woke up hungover from her binge drinking and made a resolution to try to do her past friends justice, to try to remember them and not run away from the memories.

_Past 7pm that evening_

I tapped my fingers on the arm of the chair I was sitting in in the midst of the busy lobby of the hotel, waiting – unsurprisingly – for Tony.

It wasn't as if I could send him a message that he was late considering I still hadn't found my cell phone anywhere.

And, having asked the people at the reception if any cell phone had possibly been brought to them was fruitless: they sent me an almost annoyed look when my response to 'what type of phone?' was 'black and portable'. They were apparently unamused and made it clear in a passive-aggressive polite way I was wasting their time.

My response was missing the 'passive' part. Maybe even the 'polite' part.

Thankfully 'aggressive' didn't include physical violence, just some very strong words in German, French, and even Greek.

They had sent me weary looks from behind their desk ever since.

But for now, where the hell was Tony? I had spent a good part of the day outside, walking across Manhattan as I came across places I had visited with Steve or places Bucky and the other Howling Commandos had talked about. It had somewhat helped: it hurt but it may be going better. I had gotten back to the hotel with about 15 minutes to spare and no Tony in sight.

Where was –?

"Let's go, Short Stuff."

I blinked, barely seeing Tony pass right in front of me in a speedy walk. If he hadn't spoken, I may not even have realized it had been him with his baseball cap and sunglasses on.

Since when did he wear a baseball cap? And it was dark outside.

Was he trying to not be recognized?

Well, from the lack of reaction by anybody else in the lobby, it seemed to be working.

He barely slowed, glancing behind him in my direction and motioning for me to follow with a tilt of his head. He even had the audacity to add, "We're late."

"Who's fault it that?" I grumbled, finally following him through the lobby.

"Yours at the moment."

I just flipped him off behind his back, rolling my eyes and following him outside. The valet handed Tony the keys to a car and I hesitated.

"You're driving?" I asked, eyeing Tony and the car cautiously.

"Well, one, you don't know where we're going and two, Agent took you driver's license that you shouldn't have had. So, yes, I am driving. Get in."

Damn it… I knew I shouldn't have told him about Agent Coulson taking the driver's license away.

I reluctantly got into the passenger seat and I had barely buckled my seat belt when Tony tossed the sunglasses away and sped off, merging into the traffic.

If the hangover headache hadn't already disappeared by now, it would be back soon with Tony's driving.

"Why are we heading to Queens?" I asked, gripping the door handle tightly.

"Meeting. And don't break the door with that prosthetic of yours. This is a rental," said Tony as he weaved his way through the many of cars. "I'll deduct it from your allowance."

"What allowance exactly?" I asked in confusion. I got no such thing from him. Just for the trip, Pepper had given me too much money in cash and a credit card to use in case of emergencies.

"Right, maybe I should get you to work, earn a salary, learn responsibility or something. Or perhaps chores to start off with," muttered Tony thoughtfully.

"You keep avoiding the question," I countered. "And I already help you with your projects while I get to stay in your home. Equivalent."

"You may need to look up that word."

I tried not to react too much to that response. Instead, I said, "And I have to put up with you. That must count for something."

"You must mean the reverse. I have a charming personality compared to your gremlin temper."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "So you say. _And if I find out that 'gremlin' is a slight to my height, I will –_ "

" _Empty threats and we both know it,_ " interrupted Tony and, when I went to contradict him, he continued, "Got the picture from Pepper, by the way."

I paused, surprised by that change of subject. I glanced towards him, noticing how he was focused on the road, almost as if he didn't want to gage my reaction, didn't want to know what it was. Well, it was bizarre that he asked, in his own way, about what Pepper and I had done before he had arrived.

It was almost positive that was as direct of a question that he would ask concerning it.

"That one from the museum?" I asked to which he nodded. "She hadn't told you what we were doing or did?"

He shrugged. "Maybe she did, maybe she didn't but, if you wanted to spend the rest of the ride in silence, we could leave it at that."

"You. Quiet. That's funny."

"So, you aren't going to say anything else about it?"

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't not say it."

I sighed, shaking my head. "I had actually managed to forget how annoying you could be."

"Still avoiding answering."

"You're one to talk!" I exclaimed, even pointing at him. "You won't tell me where we're going!"

"That's false, I did tell you," he countered. "We're going to Queens. Listening skills, Short Stuff, listening skills."

"So. Fucking. Annoying."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Tony almost trying to not smirk at my remark and, if he hadn't been driving, I may have just smacked him. However, considering he was and the way he did still made me uncomfortable, I decided to hold off on hitting him and try to distract myself instead.

"Fine, but you need to tell me why we're heading to Queens after this, got it?" I said, pointing a finger at him.

"I thought you liked surprises?" replied Tony, the same damn smirk on his face and I knew I was not going to get an answer from him until we got to Queens and wherever specific he had in mind.

And I also never told him I liked surprises.

However, this was eerily similar to our trip to Washington with Peggy. Well, I hoped it was. I needed to trust Tony with whatever plan he had. Besides, I had trusted Pepper and followed her around New York for two days. The least I could do was trust Tony for the evening.

And maybe share what had happened while he had been away.

I shouldn't be worried or uncomfortable sharing things with them, especially if it had been something as simple as visiting a museum or bookstore. Tony and Pepper were the closest people I had after Peggy and… and…

I had another flash of… something. That thought sounded familiar. Why? I couldn't exactly pinpoint the moment I had last said it, last thought it.

I had had a similar moment that morning too.

A feeling began to blossom that something may have happened while I had been drunk.

"Short Stuff?"

"Museum of Natural History," I began quickly, that thought nagging in the back of my mind. "It was at the Museum of Natural History. Pepper took the picture while I was reading up on fossils and dinosaurs."

Tony listened as I told him about the museum and then of the other places we had visited while I placed the previous, nagging thought on hold: I could focus on it once I got back to the hotel.

For now, I was just going to try to share more with Tony and eventually Pepper. Especially with how much they had done for me since I had appeared in Tony's basement, several months ago.

This was the least I could do.

* * *

As Tony parked the car, I looked around us in confusion. When he had said 'meeting', I had assumed at a place of business or even a restaurant.

Not some residential street lined with townhouses.

What were we doing here?

"Want to tell me now why we're here?" I asked as we got out of the car, testing my luck.

"You'll see in about 45 seconds," replied Tony, crossing the street and heading around the corner. "You had been not-so-patient all the way here. You can last a little longer."

I massaged my face, sighing in defeat. Might as well wait it out but once I found out what we were doing here, then I could possibly express myself as much as I wanted to.

"This is it," said Tony, stopping in front of one townhouse in particular and motioning towards the door. "Ring the doorbell, Short Stuff."

"Who –?"

"Just ring it."

I huffed, rolling my eyes as I climbed the stairs. I waited a moment, glancing around to see if I could gather any clues to whose home this was and what exactly we were doing here. I came up empty though.

With a sigh, I rang the doorbell.

I didn't wait long before hearing shuffling on the other side and the door opened.

Uh…

"Ed! Long time no see," greeted May Parker of all people, smiling brightly in my direction on the other side of the door.

I was still trying to process how we came here to see the Parkers, that they somehow knew Tony or that he and them had communicated in some way prior to this very moment. So many questions at the same time. Too many.

"Uh… Not too long I guess," I replied, hesitantly, still confused. "Sorry, I wasn't… I didn't know –"

"Oh, this was a surprise!" realized May with a chuckle. "So, our mystery 'Old Man' never told you that we found your phone. Is he with you?"

I faintly heard Tony choke at the bottom of the steps upon hearing the name I had given him on my cell phone. That was at least a little payback. He could have at least told me about it while he drove us here!

"Yeah, he's over there," I replied, motioning behind me. "Who had called who?"

"I called him," replied May as Tony climbed the stairs. "He had been the last person to text you so I – I… Oh." She was staring at him with wide eyes, probably recognizing _the_ Tony Stark. He still had his baseball cap but he hadn't put his sunglasses back on.

"A few surprises tonight it seems," said Tony as he glanced towards me. "You seriously have me under 'Old Man' in your phone?"

"Like you don't have me under that stupid nickname," I countered.

"Point taken," he replied before turning his attention to May whose gaze flickered back and forth between Tony and myself. "A pleasure meeting you in person."

"Yes!" exclaimed May, seeming to snap out of her amazement and extending a hand towards Tony who shook it. "Pleasure meeting you too. Did you want to come in for a bit? Coffee or tea?"

I glanced at Tony but didn't exactly wait for his opinion on the matter. "Sure, thank you. Coffee please."

"Wonderful," said May, moving back and inviting us inside.

I walked in, sending Tony a look at the same time: this was payback for not telling me we were visiting the Parkers. Besides, he had said it was a 'meeting'. We weren't going to have one finish within two minutes, still standing on the front porch.

"Oh, and here you are," said May, handing me… my cell phone! "And I'm glad to see you are feeling better. You had given us a bit of a scare yesterday."

I fiddled with my cell phone as I shifted from one foot to another. "Uh… yeah. Sorry about that. I…" I couldn't exactly come up with a good excuse for running off on them the way I had. But… Did I want to explain the proposal I had seen and how that had affected me?

May, thankfully, settled the dilemma for me as she placed a hand on my shoulder, smiling softly. "Whatever it was, I'm just glad you're okay, that… Mr. Stark –"

"Tony, just Tony is fine," he cut in, removing his coat.

May nodded, turning back to me. "That Tony had found –"

"Where would you like me to hang this?" he asked suddenly, looking around almost…. Comically, as he held up his coat.

May glanced between myself and Tony before she motioned slowly to the hooks by the door, where other coats and scarves were hanging.

"Ah, yes," said Tony, placing his coat with the others. "So, coffee you said?"

May sent me a slightly confused look before leading the way to the kitchen. I, meanwhile, eyed Tony as he followed May, baffled by his actions. Well more by the fact that he had interrupted May from saying… something. What exactly that was… I would need to find out later, on the way back.

"Ben! We have visitors!" called May, motioning for us to take a seat at the kitchen table as she headed for the kettle.

"Present!" said Ben as he entered the kitchen, even raising a hand. His gaze passed from May to Tony and myself and the expected double take happened. "We do have visitors," he managed to say evenly, glancing at me first, "Good to see you again, Ed," and then faced Tony, "and a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Stark."

"Tony, Mr. Stark was my father," he said, nodding.

"Of course, Ben Parker, just Ben is fine. And I was glad to hear that you –"

"No problem," cut in Tony, shifting slightly in his chair.

I eyed him for a moment, confused that that had been the second time in less than five minutes that Tony had purposely avoided talking about… something.

What did he do? What had he told the Parkers?

Did…? Did they know I had been drunk? Had – had Tony found out? How? When?

I seemed to have been missing a large piece of the puzzle and I 100% blamed my being drunk… My memory of last night was shot and I didn't seem to be anywhere near getting it back.

"To be fair," began May as she set down two cups of coffee in front of Tony and myself, heading back for the other two, "I have so many questions but, at the same time, I don't want to pry. It is a very fine line." She handed the other mug of coffee to Ben as she took a seat at the table, smiling at both of us.

"Would you believe this rarely happens?" asked Tony, taking a sip of coffee. "Short Stuff is usually more independent than this. But, _someone_ dropped her phone."

I sent him an annoyed look as I fiddled with said cell phone in my hands. "Old man."

He twitched at the nickname which was a small victory.

"Uh… 'Related Old Man' or…?" wondered May, slowly, motioning between the two of us.

"Never."

"Ugh."

Out simultaneous responses seemed to be enough of an answer for the Parkers as they both sent each other a side glance before taking a sip of their coffee at the same time.

"But, I have to point out that, once again, it would have been a better –"

"You just won't let that go," I grumbled, cutting Tony off because I knew full well the situation he was talking about: when I had dressed up as a 'psychologist' instead of pretending to be his daughter.

"Especially not when people keep asking," he replied smugly.

I groaned out, massaging my face, trying to keep it together in front of the Parkers. I didn't want to start a loud argument with Tony in front of them.

"So, Ed," began Ben, turning towards me, "you here in New York on spring break?"

Uh… There was that expression again… What the fuck was it exactly? I had established it was associated to school and it not being in spring but…

"Wait, counter question," started Tony, looking amused, "how old do you think she is?"

The Parkers glanced at each other before May tried, "High School age?"

I felt my face twitch as I mentally went over what those school years entailed. I was not amused by the range I came up with.

"Senior in high school," added Ben, seeming to have noticed the twitch.

Well, another twitch happened.

"I'm 20," I managed to say evenly, trying to convince myself that their guesses were purely based on how young I looked and not on my – my _height_.

May and Ben shared a look and I caught Tony trying to hide his amused grin behind his mug.

"So, college then," said Ben, a little more enthusiastically as if he was making up for their assumptions.

Oh fuck…

"Self-studying at my place," explained Tony before my confusion could show, "slash, interning and helping with some of my projects."

"That's impressive!" said May encouragingly, almost looking… proud? "What have you been working on if you don't mind me asking?"

I eyed Tony wondering what would be safe to talk about from the _many_ projects that he had begun all around his workshop that I had had a hand in helping with.

Apart from the suit that was: I had a feeling that would not be a good subject.

Tony just waved me off, shrugging as he took a gulp of his coffee, seeming to give me free range to talk about whatever I wanted.

"Well…" I stole a glance at my automail hand as it gripped the coffee mug and… "Prosthetics," I blurted out. "We're testing out better functioning prosthetics for amputees."

The Parkers' eyes widened, both looking overly impressed.

And it just made me want to explain more.

I never specified it was based on my own limbs but… I _almost_ realized what Winry felt when she talked about the automail she created. I had never truly understood it back then but, working with Tony, I was finally starting to know how it worked.

It wasn't alchemy or even chemistry but it was interesting.

And it kept the Parkers entranced until –

"Uncle Ben! Aunt May! I'm home!"

I glanced in the direction of the voice as I heard Peter in the entrance hall, kicking off his boots. I hadn't realized he wasn't even in the house during the conversation we had been having.

"We're in the kitchen, Petey!" called Ben, turning in his chair in the direction of the entrance of the kitchen. "How did it go at Ned's place?"

"So much fun!" called Peter excitedly. "We finally got through that level I had told you about. We even had a celebration reward! Oh, we still haven't heard anything from the science fair. Mrs. Norwood said possibly by the end of the week or beginning of next week for the – Ed!" Peter had entered the kitchen and smiled brightly as he readjusted his glasses. "Good to see you again! I thought… Oh."

And then he spotted Tony, who motioned between aunt and nephew. "Yes, I see the resemblance."

I bit back a smile at the comment. He was probably referencing May's reaction at the front door when she had seen him. To be fair, the reactions were near identical.

"Nice – nice to meet you, Sir," stuttered out Peter, readjusting his glasses once more and even wiped his hands on his jeans before he held one out towards Tony.

They shook hands for a little too long before Ben cleared his throat and Peter dropped his hand quickly, looking sheepish.

"Want someone to drink, sweetie?" asked May to Peter, placing a hand on his arm.

"I'll – I'll grab some water, thank you," he replied hesitantly, almost stumbling towards the sink.

It may not have helped Peter's nerves that we all were watching him and it showed when the hand holding the cup under the running water was visibly shaking.

His nerves didn't seem to have gotten any better as he took a seat between his aunt and myself and thankfully, he didn't try to drink that water just yet: it may just have spilled all over him.

"Ned's doing well?" I asked Peter, almost making him jump in his seat.

"Uh, yeah! We had been playing Metroid," explained Peter but that word didn't mean anything to me. It seemed that my confusion showed because he added, "It's a video game about a bounty hunter in space and we get to fight these types of pirates with her really cool weapons."

Even the description seemed like a jumble of words to me, I caught on that the bounty hunter was female and my face brightened: now THAT was cool. My reaction seemed like an open invitation for Peter to then go into describing what exactly Ned and himself had done in this game to "beat" that "level".

And, thankfully, the more he talked, the less stressed he became.

Even May and Ben looked relieved, the uncle even sending me a grateful look.

"But," began Peter slowly, his gaze flickering between me and Tony, "I didn't know you… uh, two knew each other."

"We don't," replied Tony without missing a beat.

And that just made Peter's eyes widened in surprise.

I sent Tony a look, smacking his arm with my automail. "Don't lie like that," I grumbled before saying to Peter, "we do. I'm working with him."

"Interning," corrected Tony.

"Yeah, that, working on projects in your workshop, putting up with your annoyance. Thankfully Pepper and JARVIS are better company."

"I am _wonderful_ company, thank you very much."

I just rolled my eyes.

Even though May and Ben seemed already used to our bickering, Peter just stared at the two of us, surprised. And then, something seemed to click in his mind and his eyes grew even larger than usual. "Wait, the address in California you wrote down was – is…?" He didn't finish that question, pointing between Tony and myself before stopping on Tony.

The older man blinked before slowly turning towards me as I casually took a sip of coffee. "You gave _my_ address out?"

"Last I checked, I live there too. Long distance phone calls are too expensive," I replied nonchalantly.

It almost made Tony's eye twitch.

"I won't share the address, Sir!" said Peter quickly, almost looking panicked. "Promise!"

Tony eyed him for a moment before pointing in his direction. "I believe you. I don't believe this one," he then pointed towards me, "won't do it again."

"I'm _unsozial_ usually so I doubt it'll happen again," I replied with a shrug.

" _And I doubt that_ ," replied Tony in a mumble in German.

"I think I'll get some more coffee," said May almost in a sing-song voice, a little too happily, as she stood.

* * *

I followed Tony down the path and onto the sidewalk. I paused, sensing a pair of eyes on me and, turning around, realized it was just the Parkers. All three were standing on the porch and they waved, smiling.

I couldn't help smiling as well as I waved back.

It had been a fun evening with them.

After a moment, I ran after Tony to catch up to him: I should have known he wouldn't have waited. He probably wouldn't admit it but, I was sure he had enjoyed himself as well. Turning the corner alongside him, I –

"Finally, thoughts you'd never leave that home."

Tony and I skidded to a halt as several figures stepped in front of us, emerging from the shadows, behind trees and even parked cars, the one who had spoke looking annoyed as he stopped about two meter away from us, his arms crossed.

"Do you know how much convincing it took to keep the others from storming that nice family's home?" continued the man, even rolling his eyes. "They'se were giving you another five minutes so you are very lucky."

"I'm sorry, who exactly are you?" asked Tony in confusion.

"Or maybe the family are the lucky ones," continued the man thoughtfully. "Since they ain't stuck in the middle of this."

"Answer the question, will ya?" tried Tony again.

"Oh, in a moment," replied the man, turning towards me instead. "Because, speaking of not getting stuck in the middle, you'se free to go."

I blinked, not believing my own ears. "I'm what?"

The man even shooed me, barely looking in my direction. "Our business is with Stark and him alone."

"This must be the weirdest ambush I've been a part of…," muttered Tony, massaging his forehead.

Funny enough, he was right. Apparently, these people had a basic level of morals. Up until possibly kidnaping someone that was. At least they – or more their leader – wanted to avoid casualties.

The question became though: what was my next move?

Because it was clear I wasn't going to just sit back and leave Tony defenseless against these people. I glanced around for a moment, a plan forming in my mind.

"Fine," I said lifting my hands and taking a step back. "I can see when someone is outmatched. I'll just head back to –"

I knocked into some trash cans, making a show of gasping in surprise and steadying them. Perfect, they both had their lids, that's what I wanted to know.

"Yeah, that way," I continued, patting the trash cans and straightening their lids. "But, I just have a question if you'd humour me."

"No, we will not tell you who we work for," snapped another man further away. "Now scram."

I couldn't help the smirk that spread across my face. "Actually, it was: how good are you at playing catch?"

One lid went flying straight at the nearest man as I grabbed the second lid and threw it at another attacker.

Neither of them was good at playing catch apparently.

Both lids hit their targets, knocking two of the men back and, as they staggered away, I grabbed Tony's arm, pulling him towards me.

"You going to run in the opposite direction?" I asked, stepping in front of him, eyeing the approaching men carefully.

"Not with a clear conscience," he replied unhappily, staying near me.

" _Of course not… Try not to get in the way_ ," I said in German.

As one attacker made a jabbing motion in my direction, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it before tugging harshly. He stumbled forward and I kneed him in the stomach, elbowing him on the side of the head at the same time.

One down… I actually wasn't sure how many more were left.

"No guns!" hissed their leader angrily. "Do you want the entire neighborhood to hear and see us? Call the cops yourself if you even think of firing it!"

" _I swear, I must be dreaming because this ambush makes no sense,_ " mumbled Tony, backing up with me along the sidewalk.

" _Just watch behind us, will you?_ " I replied instead as two attackers approached at the same time.

" _You do your violent think, Short Stuff, I'll call the cops,_ " he said as I ducked under a grab and shoved the man away before crouching down and swiping the other's legs from under him.

"Good luck getting in touch with anyone, Stark," chuckled the leader as I grabbed an attacker and tossed him further away.

I looked up to see the leader holding out a rectangular object, waving it in our direction. And then I heard Tony curse under his breath.

" _It's blocking my signal_ ," grumbled Tony and I spotted him putting his cell phone away. No signal meant we weren't calling for help any time soon.

And, I had a feeling that if we did make a ruckus, the attackers wouldn't hesitate in using their guns: staying quiet was our safest bet for now.

That may not be the easiest thing to do…

I threw a punch at another attacker, continuing to back away, making sure Tony was constantly behind me and the attackers were not getting around me.

Focus.

The attackers' patience may be running low as two of them pulled out knives, approaching us, annoyance clear on their faces. Even though they didn't want to use their guns, apparently, they weren't above using other weapons.

Well, good to know I hadn't lost my touch at getting on people's nerves.

This would be a good time to try this out!

After taking off my gloves and stuffing them into my pockets, I lifted my arms in front of me, grasping my right wrist and twisting. Swiping my automail in front of me, a blade extended from it, imitating the one my transmutations used to create.

" _And you said it would be useless,_ " I said to Tony before using my blade to block a knife attack, shoving him away with a kick to the stomach.

It had taken a lot of convincing, even after the whole incident with Obadiah Stane, to get Tony to add the blade to my automail. A reoccurring reason I had was that, if Tony had an entire suit of armour to use to fight and protect, I should AT LEAST get some type of weapon to fight and protect not only myself but others as well.

Namely Tony at the moment since he did not have his suit.

I was going to need to rub this in his face later on.

" _Don't slice your own arm off,_ " grumbled Tony.

I smirked at the order before blocking another swipe of a knife, the sound of metal against metal ringing through the street. I tried to grab the attacker by the wrist, wanting to get him to drop the knife. Sadly, I missed and it left me open for the other one to try and stab me.

Thankfully, something hit him, surprising him enough that I managed to block the attack with my automail arm.

From the corner of my eye, I spotted Tony holding… I blinked in surprise. He had somehow managed, in the few minutes, to create a makeshift slingshot from scraps of garbage and recycled material and was now in the process of using said slingshot to fire… random items at the attackers.

That could be of some help.

I body slammed one attacker away and spun, kicking at another man.

At least they seemed wearier of approaching with my arm blade and Tony's slingshot so it gave us some breathing room. Blocking another knife attack, I swiped at a man with a large arc to try and make the other back away as well.

All the while, Tony and I continued to back away from all of them.

Maybe – just maybe – someone would see this and get some help.

As one attacker ran up to me from the side, I raised my arm to block the –

And he got hit, a splatter of… tomato coming off the point of impact. I glanced towards Tony who just smirked in my direction.

" _It's important to share_ ," he stated, grabbing something else to use with his makeshift slingshot.

But… That nagging feeling was back. I had heard _him_ say those words. I was _sure_ of it. I –

Oh, fucking shit…

You have got to be FUCKING kidding me!

Sidestepping a punch, I elbowed someone in the chest as I cursed out heavily in every language I knew, my face burning more and more in embarrassment as I –

" _What happened?_ " asked Tony as he fired what I could only assume was a rotten potato at an attacker.

" _What did you tell me you saw me drunk last night?!_ " I cried out, unable to even look at him as I remembered just HOW drunk I had been. All those nagging feelings I had had all day made sense now!

" _Oh, now you know it was me,_ " mumbled Tony.

That's what he was focusing on? And – " _What the hell's that supposed to mean?!_ "

" _I thought you said you remembered._ "

I groaned out as I tossed an attacked over my shoulder. " _This conversation is far from over!_ "

" _I don't doubt it._ "

I ducked, staggering back as I tried to regain my footing and not get hit by any of the attacks coming my way. Even though I spotted an object or two coming in from behind me tossed by Tony and distracting some of the attackers, the two in front of me were not giving up.

And they were ganging up on me to catch me off guard, probably to give the chance for the others to go around and get to Tony.

Not good.

" _Get out of here,_ " I called back, knocking one man away and sparing a glance behind me at Tony.

It was sadly the wrong thing to do.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the other attacker take a swing at me and I was in no position to stop him. I just squeezed my eyes shut and braced for the impact.

A second.

And –

Yelling.

My eyes snapped open to see the attacker fall to the floor, a… an arrow in his leg…?

An arrow?!

What the fuck?!

" _Can this ambush get any weirder?_ " asked Tony, grasping my arm and pulling me away from the writhing man in the ground.

" _Knowing our luck…_ "

The rest of the attackers were searching the area for whoever shot the arrow, giving Tony and I a chance to get some distance between them and us.

"Need some help?"

Both Tony and I jumped at the voice behind us and we whirled around to see a blond man standing there, an actual bow in his hand and a quiver of arrows on his back.

However, what had actually concerned me at the moment was…

"I know you!" I cried out, pointing at him as I remembered him from the science fair, the man I had run into, literarily. And then another thought came to mind and I frowned deeply. "Are you following me?!"

Said man looked taken aback by my accusation and quickly said, "No!" He paused as he thought it through. "Actually, yes, but with good reasons!"

"I hope for your sake it is a DAMN good reason or I'll be the one with a reason to kick your ass!"

"Shield!"

Shield? Wait… S.H.I.E.L.D.! You have got to be kidding me!

"Absolutely WORST reason! They have someone FOLLOWING me?!"

The man cringed before glancing and pointing behind me. "Maybe we can discuss this later?"

" _You just keep making friends all over New York, don't you?_ " mumbled Tony, his gaze flittering between the blond archer and the attackers.

" _To be fair, the others are here for you_ ," I replied, shielding him from pretty much everyone at this point.

It truly didn't sit well with me that S.H.I.E.L.D. had sent someone to follow me around. How they even knew was in New York was still a mystery. Well… Not a complete mystery considering how much information that organization could gather or could even… manufacture. All those documents they had given me – even though they had been useful – had been A LOT.

And apparently easily done with a day.

So… They probably wanted more information on me. Hence the blond archer following me around.

Fuck… I already had to be careful because of the time-travelling, other dimension aspect of my being here and now, I would have to be double cautious because S.H.I.E.L.D. was fucking snooping around.

I. DID. NOT. LIKE. IT.

But, that was for another time. For now, I had attackers to keep at bay.

My only hope was that the attackers didn't think to use their guns because this newcomer had a bow and arrow.

"Now, that ain't fair," remarked the leader, even going as far as crossing his arms and even pouting.

The archer just smiled cheekily, nocking an arrow and aiming it at an incoming attacker. "Nah, just evening out the playing field."

And he released that arrow and it struck a knife wielding attacker in the HAND that was holding said knife, making him drop it as he gritted his teeth.

I blinked in surprise at how accurate that shot had been with an actual _bow and arrow_. I shared a look with Tony who looked as equally surprised by the events.

Well, the tables may actually have been turned.

And I renewed my pushback on the enemy.

Surprisingly, after a few minutes of knocking back the attackers, I let the archer cover my left side as he switched from arrows to hand to hand combat using his bow as well.

And he was – even more surprisingly – good at it.

Elbowing a man in the stomach, I kicked another one in the leg, ducking as the archer swung his bow at one man who tried to run at me, knocking him down.

I nodded my thanks and –

Shit!

I hadn't been fast enough to repay the favor as an attacker punched the archer on the side of the head. The archer staggered away and I thought I saw something faint head off in the opposite direction but I was more focused on keeping the archer safe as he staggered away to recover from the hit.

"You okay?" I called out, swiping my arm in a large arc to make the attackers jump away.

No answer.

"Hey!" I tried again, kicking on attacker back. Still nothing. "Hey!" Nothing. "The fuck?!"

I whirled round to see the archer… still fighting.

And looking… unharmed.

"What the fuck?!" I called out, throwing my arms in the air.

That got the archer's attention apparently and he also raised his hands but in a sheepish manner before motioning to his ear. "He punched my hearing aid out. I can't exactly hear you!"

I blinked in surprise, absolutely not having expected that explanation. He was deaf? And technology actually had advanced enough to help people with that?

I couldn't help but be impressed by that fact because the archer had gone from understanding every word said to not hearing me yell after he had lost that hearing aid of his.

Impressive how much it helped.

"Duck!" called out Tony and the archer at the same time and I followed the instructions instinctively.

Someone rammed into my side, almost falling over me. Well, I helped the process and flipped him over my back and he solidly hit a parked car.

Setting off its alarm.

"Good idea!" called the archer, as if I had planned for that blaring noise and flashing lights to happen.

To be clear: I hadn't.

"Oh dear…," sighed the leader, massaging his forehead. "Fine, go all out, someone will see the fighting anyway. Just finish before the cops show up, please?"

Oh fuck… I had been afraid of that.

And some attackers pulled out their guns all too happily.

"Gotta take cover," said Tony, grabbing my arm and pulling me back.

The archer followed us quickly and the three of us crouched behind a parker car much further away. I ended up between the two men as I glanced around, wondering what our next move. Especially considering…

"You can't hear me!" I hissed in exasperation, turning towards the archer. "How the fuck is this even going to work?!"

He looked almost insulted at that comment.

"I can't hear your voice but I can read lips, thank you very much," he explained matter-of-factly. "Just make sure we're facing each other when you do decide to talk to me."

This was unbelievable…

This had all started because of my damn cell phone. I was truly beginning to regret dropping it.

"Fine," I said, making sure to enunciate as I faced him. "Plan?"

"Don't get shot?"

"You are fucking hilarious," I snapped, pushing myself up to glance through the windows, trying to gage how far the attackers were.

They were not as far as I had hoped.

Not good.

"If you two have finished bickering, remind me not to hire either of you as bodyguards," said Tony from my other side and I turned toward him, noticing he was holding a can of… something along with an open flame.

" _Where the fuck did you get fire?_ " I cried in surprise as he had said flame VERY close to the can.

" _I've been busy. Stay here._ "

And he followed the side of the car, tossing the can over the trunk. He calmly sat back down and –

An explosion resounded on the other side of the car along with surprised yells from the attackers. The archer, seeming to have caught on quicker than I had, already shot an arrow from over the hood and had another one ready to go. And I…

Grabbed another trash can lid to throw.

Meanwhile, Tony had somehow found another can of pressurized aerosol and was heating that one up as well to throw as another homemade grenade.

I had almost forgotten that Tony used to design weapons…

And –

Wait, were those… sirens? Were the police finally on their way?

I began to see the reflection of red and blue lights from behind us and I was glad that the car alarm had drawn someone's attention.

Good because with those guns, we were not going to be able to keep those attackers at bay for much longer.

Said attackers began to scatter as the police cars got closer and even turned the corner, seeming to give up their goal of catching – capturing – Tony.

"Alright, time to go," said the archer, grabbing my arm and dragging me back, away from Tony and the police officers running in his direction. "I'll watch her, I promise!" he called to Tony before we disappeared into the shadows between the townhouses.

"Where the fuck are we going?!" I growled out, tugging at his grip before I remembered he couldn't hear me.

"Bear with me, will ya!" said the archer as we entered someone's backyard and headed towards the fence. "Thought you wouldn't want to be questioned by the police and have photos of you plastered all over the internet because you're with Tony Stark." He finally looked back at me, wearing a cheeky grin. "Trust me, ok? So, can I toss you over the fence?"

I squinted at him, not liking that he made a _logical_ point. Pulling my arm out of his grip, I made sure to enunciate, "Fine," so he could read my lips before I easily pulled myself up and over the fence.

The archer followed a moment later and led the way over the next fence and the one after.

Thankfully all of the backyards were empty, everyone probably too focused on what had been going on out front, on the street.

"I'm Clint, by the way. Just realized I hadn't introduced myself," he said, holding out his hand and smiling in my direction as we were halfway across another yard.

"Stalker Clint," I corrected, slowing to a stop, retracting the blade on my automail before crossing my arms. Seeing his confused face, I repeated myself and he almost winced.

Almost.

"Listen, not my proudest moments," he said, scratching the side of his head with the hand that had been outstretched in my direction as if that had been his intention all along. "No… Well, I almost had to fight Coulson for this job and actually got it which no one thought would be doable so… maybe a little proud."

My frown deepened at his rambling and I was very close to punching him solidly in the face and getting way from him. But…

"Why the FUCK is S.H.I.E.L.D. stalking me?" I said, trying to enunciate through my growling. I wanted answers first. Then I may physically harm him.

"Not. Stalking," repeated Clint almost in exasperation. "I – Oh uh."

Next thing I knew, he almost ran into me, trying to grab me as I sidestepped out of the way and –

"Stop it!"

I vaguely saw _something_ flying in my direction coming from the same source as the voice that had shouted out and I ducked before it hit my head as I was grabbed by Clint.

"Sorry Ed! Let her down!"

Wait, I recognized that voice. "Put me down!" I hissed to Clint which, again, meant nothing so I kicked him solidly, with enough force that he let me go.

I staggered away, coming to a stop next to Peter who gripped onto my arm tightly as we both faced a wheezing Clint. Served him right for stalking.

"Who is he?" asked Peter as the archer straightened and seemed to have understood the question.

"A stalker."

"A friend," countered Clint, exasperation clear in his voice this time before pointing towards Peter. "And he's a friend of yours, right?"

My eyes widened before I glared at him, dark thoughts crossing my mind as I took a step in front of the teenager. "If you even think of –"

Clint quickly waved his hands in front of him. "No, no, not what I meant! Just to going to leave you with him and be on my way!"

He was already backing away and I went to follow him, wanting answers.

"I come in peace, I swear! It was all to protect you, promise! See ya!"

And Clint jumped over the fence, disappearing into someone else's backyard.

" _Fucking asshole_ ," I growled out, kicking some leftover snow in frustration as I stomped around the backyard and… why was there a first aid kit laying on the ground? Wait. I turned towards Peter, pointing at the box. "Had you thrown that at me?"

The teenager looked embarrassed as he readjusted his glasses. "I was aiming for the guy who ran off but I'm not very good at throwing… anything to be honest."

I didn't see the need to comment in that slight flaw in his plan so, instead I said, "Thanks for trying."

"Who was he? And are you okay?"

I nodded, shrugging my shoulders at the same time. "He was a pain in the ass but somewhat useful. I'm fine."

"And Mr. Stark?"

True. I pulled out my cell phone as I said, "Last I saw, he was fine. The police showed up and he should be with them." I figured I should at least let him know where I was and that I hadn't been kidnapped by Stalker Clint.

**_Ed_ **

_With Parkers. Bow and arrow guy ran away…_

**_Old Man_ **

_Thanks for ditching me with these people_

**_Ed_ **

_I got caught off guard._

_Just let me know when you're done._

**_Old Man_ **

_Fine_

_No allowance for you this week. Punishment for leaving me_

I just rolled my eyes at his response, putting my cell phone away without answering. At least this whole ordeal was over with… Tony hadn't been captured but I found out that S.H.I.E.L.D. thought it was a good idea to have someone following me around.

For what reason… I didn't exactly want to know because I had this sinking feeling that it may not be a pleasant one.

"Ed?" I turned towards Peter who was shifting from one foot to the other, his gaze flickering back and forth from my face to my – "Is that a prosthetic?"

Damn… With Clint having dragged me here, I hadn't thought of putting my gloves back on. At least I had had the foresight to retract the blade before he saw that too.

Well, I couldn't hide it now… Lifting my hand, I said, "Yes, it is. Tony designed it based on the one I already had."

Peter looked overly excited as he took a step closer to look at it, looking as if he was itching to touch it, to study it. With an amused sigh, I asked, "Can I come back inside where it's warm and you can look at it until Tony gets back?"

The teenager seemed to remember at that point that we still were in his backyard and quickly nodded. "Of course! Yeah, yeah, come in!"

As I followed Peter, I wondered exactly how much explaining I would have to do before Tony showed up.

Which reminded me: I needed to get more information about last night and my drunkenness from him since he conveniently forgot to mention that he had BEEN there and had SEEN me.

And had even listened to my drunken rambles.

He may not let me forget that…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought!! :D


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